Close Encounter
by UltimateUnknown
Summary: <html><head></head>Naruto has always felt a connection to the stars ever since childhood. However, what he did not expect was to meet an alien princess named Hinata who insists that the two of them have a special relationship. Thus Naruto is dragged into an adventure across space through which he will not only encounter amazing new worlds, but also discover the mystery behind his own lineage.</html>
1. Universal Separation

**Universal Separation**

As I'm sure you've already noticed from the description, this fic is AU and has nothing to do with the Naruto storyline. This is an original story in and of itself. What I have done however is borrow the personalities, mainly of Naruto and Hinata among others and incorporated them here with some changes as necessary.

With that being said, if you like the sound of a sci-fi setting, an adventure/conflict on a universal scale, topped by a romantic tale of the two main characters – Naruto and Hinata, then you are at the right place. I hope you will enjoy.

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><p><span>Location: Hyuya, Andromeda, Local Group<span>

The time was 9:45 at night. A young lady the age of 22 was walking down the long hallway of a hospital. Her name was Hinata. However she wasn't your average Earthling. In fact she was what the people of Earth would term an "alien". But at a glance one would not be able to discern this fact, for she looked just like any other person on Earth. In fact the humanoid life form living in planet Hyuya in the Andromeda galaxy was virtually identical to those on Earth, bar a few distinctions. The first physical characteristic that made the Hyuyans different though as seen on this young woman was her naturally dark midnight blue hair, something unheard of on Earth. The second trait was a bit more subtle but important nonetheless. On first glance of a Hyuyan's eyes, one could see that their irises were white in colour just like the sclera; only a very slight tinge of purple distinguished the irises from the whites of the eye. It wasn't only the appearance that was different however; these eyes were much more advanced and capable of performing feats that would sound like science fiction to the people of Earth. To accommodate these features, a Hyuyan's eyes were ever changing; the size of their pupils altering in a moment's notice. Right now though, the young lady's eyes had small black pupils at the centre, similar to those of any human on Earth.

There was a very particular reason why Hinata was walking down the hallway of the hospital at this late hour. She wore a very large smile across her face which was so contagious that it made anyone else passing by her also smile in response. It didn't take the passer-bys long to realise the source of her happiness either as they shifted their gaze down slightly to witness the large bump on her belly. Indeed Hinata was pregnant and expecting soon. To compound on to that, Hinata was going to give birth to twins. The joy was thus doubled. She totted along while caressing her exceptionally large midsection until she reached the front of a glass door with a nameplate stating "Shizune". She placed her right palm on to a small square panel to the side of the door and instantly the door slid open to one side allowing Hinata entrance. As soon as she took one step in however, someone grabbed both of her hands out of the blue, startling her somewhat.

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU PRINCESS HINATA!" Shizune, a slightly older middle aged woman shouted in excitement.

"Y-You must be Dr. Shizune. My general practitioner has directed me to you to monitor my health until delivery. She said you're an expert at childbirth."

"Indeed, since your case is so special, I will be looking after you and your children from here on out." Shizune eyed Hinata like a hawk from top to bottom and grinned like a little kid. "AND I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS CASE! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM WITH MY OWN EYES! I WANT TO SEE YOUR CHILDREN SO BAD!

Hinata took a step back inadvertently. This person's enthusiasm was a bit scary.

"Is it really true? Are your children really half alien? Did you really mate with an extra-terrestrial species?" Shizune showered Hinata with a barrage of questions.

"I s-suppose if you p-put it that way then yes, but-"

"So what I heard was true after all. I didn't want to believe it at first but you are the first person in the history of our race to mate with an alien and bear his child. From a biological perspective THIS IS GROUNDBREAKING!"

"M-My children are pretty n-norma-"

"I must examine you…FOR SCIENCE!" Shizune exclaimed in excitement and looked at Hinata in a devious manner. "So tell me, how was the mating experience? How many tentacles did he have? Did he take more than one orifice? Was it actually consensual? Was it…pleasurable?"

"PLEASE STOP IMAGINING ME GETTING VIOLATED BY A TENTACLE MONSTER!" Hinata finally conjured up the guts to explain her situation. "The father of my child is another humanoid from the planet known as "Earth". Biologically speaking we are almost identical apart from a few minor, negligible differences. But most importantly, I love him with all my heart and he feels the same way about me as well."

"I see. I'm sorry." Shizune seemed almost a bit disappointed. "I apologise for my outburst. I let my imagination get carried away. How about we get your check up started?"

Hinata nodded with a wry smile as she was shown to the corner of the room where a metallic slab floated in mid-air at waist height by the use of magnets fitted below the floor. The thin rectangular metal slab was in fact a medical unit large enough to accommodate one person lying down on top. It had a pillow on one end to serve that purpose.

"This won't very comfortable, but I'll need you to lay down here for a bit."

Hinata obliged, placing her head on the pillow and straightening her body across the metallic surface. Shizune then pressed a button causing all four edges to light up, indicating that the machine was now functioning and taking all types of readings of the person lying on top.

"First I'm going to do a quick check up on you princess. Then we'll move to your lovely little babies." Shizune brought her right hand up to face height making a screen to appear a little distance in front of her eyes. This was her personal virtual reality (VR) screen that only she could see, and although to an outsider it looked as though she was waving her hand around in mid-air, in reality she was flicking through the various tabs on the VR screen which reported all the readings taken by the medical unit. "Let's see…heart rate is normal, blood pressure looks good, hormonal levels as expected, brain activity is okay well…Princess, I have to say that you're in perfect condition."

"Thanks doctor. But what I really want to know is how my children are doing."

"Of course. That is why we're here after all. I want to see them just as much as you do – children whose parental lineages originate from two different galaxies." As Shizune prepared some equipment and calibrated them, she couldn't hold back her curiosity. "So princess, I hope this isn't too much of a personal question, but can you tell me a little bit about their father? How did you meet him?"

The question instantly brought a smile to Hinata's face. Just his memory brought a feeling of elation to her heart that nothing else could.

"I had travelled to Earth in order to study intelligent life forms which are still in the process of becoming technologically advanced. Earth in particular was the best planet to study because they're almost at the verge of discovering the existence of other intelligent life forms beside their own in the universe. It was during my visit about a year ago that I finally met him. Although I wasn't meant to come in contact with any of the inhabitants of Earth, I knew for sure as soon as I saw him that he was the one for me. The father of my children…was an amazing person and I had fallen in love with him at first sight. As such, I approached him at once and the rest was memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I was so glad to find out that he felt the same way about me as I did for him. Even though we spent only three months together last year, it was the most precious time of my life."

"Wow, even the way you speak of him kind of makes me a bit jealous." Shizune replied with a look of awe on her face. "The two of you must have spent some really passionate times together for you to get pregnant within just three months. Well, it only does take one time however."

Hinata blushed a bright red colour and wished there was something nearby to hide her face with.

"I'm only teasing you a bit. You're just so pure. That being said, where is their father now. I would have imagined he would have come with you to check on the children."

"Actually…" A sad expression now clouded Hinata's face. "He does not yet know that I'm pregnant."

"WHAT?!" Shizune was flabbergasted. "You're due in a month's time. How does he not know yet? Haven't you met him since?"

"Unfortunately no. When the authorities found out that I made contact with one of the inhabitants of Earth and revealed my true identity to him, I was ordered to return back to Hyuya at once because one of the rules of interplanetary travel strictly forbids us from coming into contact and reveal our true identity to species that have not yet developed a level of advanced technology that allows them to discover other intelligent life forms in the universe. This was set in place to stop more advanced civilizations from exploiting the ones which are still in the process of developing. I had just broken that rule. I'm lucky that I haven't yet been prosecuted, but that's only thanks to father coming to my defence."

"Surely your father with his level of authority could do something about it."

"Father has been doing everything in his power to allow for me to be able to be with him, in particular considering the special way we Hyuyans choose our spouses. But it isn't easy even for father, because the rules of interplanetary travel in particular are part of the treaty set up by the Galactic Federation."

"THE GALACTIC FEDERATION!" Shizune shouted in disbelief. "You mean it's that serious? But surely they can make an exception for your case. I mean it is the first time in history that a Hyuyan has chosen their significant other to be someone from a different race."

"Perhaps an exception would have been, but apparently an incident almost exactly the same as this happened about 30 years ago where a woman from another planet similar to ours had taken away a man from Earth as part of an "exception" because they'd fallen in love and gotten married. Apparently, this person from Earth died soon after due to various complications. The other members of the Galactic Federation do not want the same kind of incident from happening once again and are therefore very wary of making the exception in my case."

"I didn't realise the situation was this complicated. But then again perhaps I should have expected it to be considering how different it is." As soon as she said so, Shizune realised how insensitive she must have sounded given that Hinata's expression became even worse. "I'M REALLY SORRY! I'm sure everything will be fine. You just have to be patient princess. For now, let's have a look at your little kids. Bring up your screen."

Hinata couldn't help but feel sadness being replaced by a sense of excitement. She nodded and raised her hand in front of her face, causing a virtual screen to appear a little distance away from her eyes.

"I'll connect the both of our screens together so that you can also view the results of the ultrasound scan in real time. I'll send you the invite to join my viewing session. Just accept it." The doctor advised and Hinata accepted the pop-up invitation that appeared on her screen. Thus their virtual screens became wirelessly connected and they could now see each other's ones.

Shizune put on a small metallic cap on her left index finger and placed that finger on top of Hinata's enlarged belly while using her other hand to press some buttons on the virtual screen floating in front of her. With just a few presses, a video feed of the high resolution ultrasound could be seen on both the women's screens.

To Hinata's joy she was now looking at her two children moving around inside her womb ever so slightly. The two of them seemed to be in peace, enjoying each other's company as well, moving around in a circular pattern in tandem with each other. It was almost as though they could sense each other's thoughts already. It was unlike any other twin seen before. The sight filled her with happiness. The only lingering thought was the wish to be able to share this feeling with her beloved. But she strengthened her resolve and believed that the children would be able to see their father soon. The four of them would be together one day. For now Hinata just needed to focus on giving birth to two healthy babies, and so far everything was looking good.

"They're so cute. The way they're moving around is mesmerising to watch. I haven't quite seen anything like it." Shizune commented on her observations. "More importantly, the test results are brilliant. The children are in perfect condition. They're as healthy as one could expect. There is no need for any worries. I can confirm that they should be born in approximately a month's time. Congratulations princess Hinata."

"T-Thank you Dr. Shizune."

"This should really be a time of joy for you princess. Don't let the fact that you're separated from your significant other bring you down. I'm sure the two of you will be united soon enough. Actually, since we did come back to the subject, you never did tell me his name. It's not documented in the hospital's database either."

"Their father's identity has not been officially documented yet due to the complications we talked about before." Hinata stated. "But his name is Namikaze Naru-"

Just at that moment, the virtual screens as well as all other electronics in the room went offline.

"W-What just happened?" Shizune tried to re-initiate her screen but to no avail. "It seems all the equipment here have been disconnected from the central system and just stopped working. I've never experienced anything like this before. There was no scheduled maintenance either. Let me go check with the staff."

As soon as Shizune got up from her seat, suddenly the reinforced glass door to the room was blown apart, startling both of the inhabitants inside.

"Pardon my intrusion." Someone said in a low, cold voice while walking in. This man was wearing a long black gown that went all the way down to his legs with a hoodie and a spiral mask to hide his face. A dark aura surrounded his body and covered whatever parts of his body that weren't already hidden by his long and baggy clothes. He gave off an unnerving and menacing presence.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING BREAKING IN LIKE THAT? DON'T YOU REALISE THAT THERE'S A PATIENT INSIDE? WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN IF SHE GOT INJURED?" Shizune yelled at the unwelcome guest in anger and headed straight at him. "I'M GOING TO REPORT YOU TO SECURITY RIGHT NOW!"

The man grabbed on to the top of Shizune's head with a firm grip in response. "You're annoying, woman. I have no business with you. Therefore, stay out of my way."

As soon as he released her head, Shizune dropped on to the floor unconscious.

Hinata got out of her bed in fear of what happened to the doctor and the dangerous man that was now standing in from of her. "W-What did you do to her? Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important, but if you need a name then you can refer to me as "Tobi". What I'm here for however is the real question. And the answer to that would be…your children." He said in a dark tone.

That statement sent chills down her spine. Hinata shouted for help but no one in the hospital answered back. She tapped her temples hoping to use her communication device to call someone for help, but her equipment had stopped working completely. She was backed up against the wall with nowhere to run.

"It's useless. I've muted this room so that sound can not escape outside and disengaged all electronic equipment in this hospital. There won't be anyone coming to your rescue. Plus you shouldn't even think about fighting back either. I'm well aware that Hyuyan women lose their offensive capabilities when they're pregnant due to the hormonal changes in their body." The masked man said as he started to walk towards Hinata. "Now you have two options. Either hand over your children to me peacefully, saving your life in the process. Or I take them from you by force, and you suffer the consequences. In either case I don't care if your children are dead or alive in the end. I just need one of their bodies."

The situation was dire. It was crystal clear to Hinata that her life was in danger, but what mattered to her more was the life of her children, which would be in severe jeopardy given that they were still too premature for birth. She had to protect them from this man no matter what. There was no way she could allow him to get his hands on either one of them. She resolved to take control of her fear and find a way out of this predicament.

It was at that moment that Hinata saw the window just a few feet away from her current position. They were on the first floor, not too high up from the ground, so if she could only jump out, she could call for help from the people below once she landed safely outside. Fixating her gaze on the window, Hinata made a dash for escape. But the masked man disappeared from his position at once and reappeared right next to Hinata, turning her around towards him.

The next moment Hinata felt a searing pain spread from her midsection to every part of her body as the masked man drove his fist straight into her stomach. The pain felt like death itself and for a brief moment she was about to lose consciousness, but the thought of her children brought Hinata back to the excruciating reality that made the pain feel like minor bruise in response. Her children…were they alive after what just happened? That thought tore her mind apart as the masked man took several steps backward from her.

Hinata coughed up a mouthful of blood while at the same time her water broke, causing the floor below her to be soaked with red fluids. She wanted to scream in agony, but the state of the two other lives she carried within drove her to the brink of insanity. Tears flowed down her face not from the pain, but rather from fear of the wellbeing of her children whose lives were now in uncertainty. She couldn't move her body from the shock despite wanting to do something…anything to save her offspring.

"It seems I've just induced labour quite unceremoniously." The masked man said in an emotionless tone. "I suppose I'll proceed with the delivery."

He grabbed on to her throat and shoved her body against the wall. Several chains tore through the wall and wrapped around her hands and legs, trapping her in place. Despite her desperate struggles, there was nothing Hinata could do any longer to free her weakened and throbbing body from the trap.

"Please…let them go." She pleaded with all her heart. "Please, I don't want to see them die. I beg you."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Your children are special after all. Either one of them will be very valuable for research, whether dead or alive." He replied while bring out an incredibly powerful laser pen that was used by the Hyuyans for surgery.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T!" Hinata screamed with whatever little strength she had left in her body.

Her words went to deaf ears as the wicked man jabbed the tip of the laser pen on to one side of her abdomen.

"This is the first time I'm performing a birth surgery, so I hope you'll excuse me if I'm a bit rough around the EDGES!" As soon as he pressed the button on the pen, a powerful laser tore through the cloth and skin like knife through butter all the way down to her uterine wall. The masked man dragged the laser all the way across her belly to the other side, tearing through raw flesh in process.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hinata's scream of pain and despair echoed across the room, but there was no one to reply to her calls, neither could she move her body due to the chains holding her in place. Blood gushed out from the area of the body that had been torn apart.

Having made a sizeable cut through her uterus, the masked man grabbed the leg of one of the children with one hand and pulled it out without any regard for the life that was now in his hand, cutting the umbilical cord with the laser pen. He held the premature child by the leg, hanging it upside down in front of Hinata.

"Hmmm…it seems this one got pretty badly damaged during that scuffle earlier. It's about to die." He tossed the child on to the floor with no remorse whatsoever.

"NOOOOO! Stop. Let me go. LET ME GO TO HER!" Even though Hinata could barely see at this point, the sight of her precious daughter at the verge of death and being dispatched so carelessly brought her mind to the brink of utter chaos. She struggled desperately against the chains that bound her to the walls. "STOP IT!"

The masked man now grabbed on to the head of the boy that was still inside Hinata and dragged him out as well, cutting the umbilical cord once again with the laser pen. Examining the boy, an evil smile appeared behind the mask.

"This one seems to be doing much better. I suppose alive is better than dead after all. So I'll be taking him with me." He started to walk away with the boy at hand.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" The masked man heard a scream and just as he turned back towards Hinata, he saw his left leg get vaporised and disappear by a powerful burst of energy. He lost his entire leg in a matter of moments that brought him down to his other knee.

The shy and timid princess now assumed a deathly glare despite the mess her body was in. The pupils of her eyes had disappeared completely with only a small black circular outline of them present within the white irises. The veins in her temples had bulged as well, giving a truly menacing appearance.

"What incredible power…So this is one the Hyuyans' offensive capabilities - being able to fire incredibly powerful electromagnetic radiation from their eyes. I can't believe I was caught up in that attack so easily. Well, it could have been worse. It seems given that her pregnancy is over, she is starting to regain her combat abilities. There's a reason why she is known as the princess after all. I would hate to face her at her best. Nonetheless, if the mother is this good, this child that I carry must have great potential. All the troubles I've went through to get him was not fruitless after all."

The damage from the attack made the chains disappear, causing Hinata to drop down to the floor. Her body had been damaged severely and the pregnancy took a severe toll on her. Despite tittering on the edge of life and death, Hinata wasn't about let this man walk away with her baby. She was going to protect him.

"LET HIM GO!" She fired another burst of energy from her eyes which the masked man barely managed to dodge this time. The attack tore through every wall that stood in its way.

Seeing the destruction happen behind him, the masked man quickly got up on his one remaining foot. "I have no intentions of fighting right now. My work here is done and thus I'll be taking my leave." He quickly teleported from the room and reappeared on the rooftop of the building with the boy at hand. But just when he thought he had escaped, blinding beams of light from the sky above illuminated his position.

"DO NOT MOVE AN INCH!" One of the Hyuyan security commanders, Ko, warned the intruder. "I do not know how you managed to bypass the planetary defense system, but we have your position pinpointed with 1000 tracking drones around the hospital. At this moment 20 satellites are aimed at your position, ready to fire precision orbital beam strikes that can vaporise your head in a split second. So this is your one chance to gently leave the child and turn yourself in without any incident. Or else you leave us no choice but to terminate you at once."

This was the first time when the masked man's laughter could be heard audibly. "Interesting. VERY interesting. I suppose it's time for me to get a little SERIOUS!"

He snapped the fingers on his right hand and instantly the thousand small drones that illuminated his position from the sky all stopped working at once, raining down on to the ground below.

"W-WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! I JUST LOST HIM! SATELLITES OFFLINE! I REPEAT, ALL SATELLITES ARE OFFLINE! IT'S A BLACKOUT!" Ko shouted to all the other units. "All tracking drones have simultaneous stopped working. It seems the enemy has some kind of jamming device. No choice…I'm escalating this case to code red and bypassing it to HALO unit. WE MUST KEEP TRACK OF THAT MAN AT ALL COSTS! HE'S EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!"

"HALO unit, solid copy." Another security personnel, this one from outside the planet replied. "We've got his last known co-ordinates. We're going on his trail."

"Now's my chance to escape before it gets any worse." The masked man quickly pressed a button on his wristwatch that readied his spaceship in orbit and he disappeared once again with the child, this time for good.

Inside the hospital Hinata struggled back on to her feet somehow, only to come crashing down once again. She had lost too much blood but forced herself to stand to save her child. Alas her body finally gave in and she collapsed on to the floor once more.

"SISTER! OH NO!" A younger girl ran into the room to her side with a dozen of medics on her trail who all rushed to Hinata and her new born daughter's aid. "I'm sorry we're late sister. I'm really sorry. Please relax; we'll take care of things from here."

"Ha-Hanabi…I need t-to go after t-that man. I have t-to save my s-son."

"What are you saying sister?" Hanabi asked out of serious concern, trying to hold her sister down. "You are in no condition to get up. Your life is in danger, as is your daughter's."

Suddenly Hinata realised about her other child who was in much worse condition. "H-How is she?" She asked out of desperation.

"Her condition is critical. On top being born premature, she has suffered some major injuries. We're not going to lie. Her chances of survival are slim, but we'll do our very best." The medics carried the little girl off to a different room to begin the treatment process.

Tears flowed endlessly from Hinata's eyes. She felt so helpless right now. How could she let this happen to her children? How would she ever face HIM after the incident that just took place? Despite the doubts clouding her mind, Hinata knew this was not the time for those thoughts. She forcefully dragged her body back up to pursue the masked man.

"Please princess, you're in critical condition as well right now. You MUST allow us to treat you." One of the medics advised urgently.

"They're right!" Hanabi added as well, holding on to her sister to prevent her from falling over. "You have to rest so that the doctors can help you."

"I m-must go after h-him." With only resolve alone, Hinata forcefully took one step, but her body gave in for good and she toppled over, her fall only being stopped by a firm grasp on her right shoulder.

"That's enough Hinata." The man holding on to her said in a calm and reassuring tone.

Hinata turned her head to the right only to find her elder brother standing beside her - a man who exuded authority and power.

"B-Big brother…Neji." Hinata barely managed to gasp his name. "I have to s-save my s-son."

"You are in no shape to even move. You will stay here. I will go after him instead. Leave the rest to me."

Hearing her brother's words Hinata felt at least a little bit of reassurance, and that was all it took for her consciousness to fade away. Everyone grabbed on to her body and brought it to rest.

"I'll leave the rest here to you Hanabi." Neji quickly said to his younger sister before turning to the medics. "Please tend to her. She's precious."

"OF COURSE!" Everyone shouted and got to work instantly.

Neji placed his right index and middle fingers on his temple and started communication with others who were currently outside the planet. "HALO unit, this is Neji. Prepare my spaceship this instant. I'm coming up there right now and I'll be joining the chase after him." He ordered firmly to his subordinates. "I'm going to tear that man apart for what he did to my sister."

"YES SIR!" Came a chorus of replies.

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><p><span>Location: Earth, Milky Way, Local Group<span>

At this very moment a certain blonde young man on Earth jumped out of bed with a sense of discomfort in his right hand.

"I feel like something really bad just happened." He whispered to himself before lying back down in his bed.

But the uneasiness never left and he had a terrible sleepless night. After all, this was only just the beginning of his tale.

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><p>This is very much a setup chapter. Next time, Naruto and Hinata will meet and that's when it really begins. I hope you like the premise of this story thus far.<p>

I really enjoy interacting with my readers and would love to know what your thoughts were on this chapter, especially since this is the first one. So any and all reviews are greatly appreciated.

I hope to see you all next time :)


	2. A Marriage of Two Worlds

**A Marriage of Two Worlds**

I have to thank you all for the very warm reception to this story from the first chapter. It was very interesting for me to see those first impressions, as well as some good questions being raised, which will hopefully be answered as we go along. As for now, Naruto and Hinata are finally about to come into contact.

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><p><strong>3 years after the events from last time…<strong>

Location: Solar System – Interplanetary Space, Milky Way, Local Group

As far as the eyes could see it was almost pitch black. The only minute sources of light were in the background and these were the countless stars that were an unimaginable distance away in space. Truly the expanse of universe was vast indeed.

Within the broad confines of space, a lone alien spaceship was travelling at an incredible velocity. The spaceship itself was inhabited by a single person, a young woman to be more exact, hailing from a distant planet in a different galaxy than our own.

Hinata was sitting on a couch with her head hung low in a large room that was clearly the control panel of the space ship. Although it looked like she was calm, in reality she was restless from anticipation. She wanted to reach her destination as soon as possible. She wanted to see HIM so badly. After so long it was finally time.

As though her thoughts were answered, a voice suddenly spoke up within her mind.

"_Princess, we're nearing our destination. The planet we set out for is now within sight. Estimated time of arrival is 30 minutes."_

Hinata's head instantly shot up and she looked at the massive screen right in front of her. It showed the darkness of space, but within that darkness a singular point of light from a certain star was starting to get bigger and bigger. The "Sun" was getting closer as the spaceship travelled towards it. More importantly, the light from the sun that reflected off of its third orbiting planet could be seen, making the faint traces of "Earth" visible to the alien girl. It was a moment of unparalleled joy for her and she couldn't hold herself from jumping up from her seat in excitement with heartfelt tears streaming down her face.

"It feels like it has been an eternity, but I'm here at last." Hinata said while wiping the tears off her face, even though they continued to overflow. "I can finally meet you again...Naruto-kun."

**At the same time on Earth…**

It was 11:30 at night. A speed boat had just docked at the harbour of a small island off the coast of Japan which consisted of just one village. A spiky blonde haired young man jumped out of the boat while holding on tightly to the messenger bag on his back, making sure that his belongings did not fall into the water. His face was beaming with excitement as he took in a huge breath of the fresh air that could only be found on this very island. His home was here after all.

This young man was named Naruto Namikaze. He was 26 years of age and had just returned after 4 long years to his home village on this island where he had grown up since childhood. He looked at his watch and sadness clouded his face instantly, realising he was too late to have his favourite ramen from Ichikaru's ramen shop. He did his best, even riding a speed boat back, but alas, the delayed flight had just managed to mess up his plans of wolfing down 4 years' worth of ramen in one night before going to bed. Nonetheless, realising that he could have all the ramen his heart desired the next day, the young man decided he would return to his home and get some much needed rest before going out to meet everyone in the village tomorrow morning.

Brimming with energy as usual, Naruto ran along the coastline beneath the moonlit sky. The gentle night breeze and the countless stars scattered across the night sky made him remember his childhood when he would sneak out during the night and play at the beach. He would even swim around in the cold water, or just lie in the sand watching the stars overhead, wondering what they would look like up close.

The reason why Naruto could get away with all this was because he was an orphan. He never met his parents, didn't know who they were, neither did he have any memories of them. The villagers had found him in a basket almost like a stray cat. Presumably, his parents had left him at the island and never contacted back since. Although this seemed somewhat painful, it wasn't anything extraordinary for the people of the island. This village was known for having one of the most popular orphanages. Orphans from across the country would often be sent here so that they could grow up at a caring environment surrounded by nature. The inhabitants of the island would make the children feel at home and care for them just like they were a family until they could one day choose their own future. This was the case for Naruto since he had lived on this island since birth until he was 18, at which point he moved to study for the past 8 years. During the time he left, Naruto had only returned once to the village 4 years ago for his summer vacation.

While all of this seemed rather normal, that particular summer he spent on this island was one that had changed his life forever. He just knew it. He could tell. But the worst part was that Naruto could not remember what it was that happened during that summer. He could not recall a single memory from those short few months. It was extremely odd and he didn't know why. Whenever he thought about it too hard his head would start to hurt until eventually he would have to give up. One thing he knew however even to this day was that whatever happened then was something of unparalleled importance to him and he sought to unravel the events that transpired now that he was finally back home again.

Since the island was rather small and the docking area for boats was relatively nearby to the village, it didn't take Naruto very long to get back home. He didn't come across any of the villagers either since they normally went to bed rather early. The quietness of the night with only the lone sound of crickets far in the background reminded Naruto how drastically different the city life was from here. Regardless, he was now standing in front of the door to the house he grew up in.

It was a traditional Japanese house with wooden floors and sliding doors. It even had a sizeable courtyard at the front and a nice little garden in the back. The house was actually rather big with quite a few spacious rooms especially considering Naruto lived alone here back in the day.

"I'm back." He said in a quiet voice as he stepped in through the door despite knowing that no one would reply. He was an orphan after all with no family living with him. But for whatever reason he felt as though there used be someone waiting for him when he returned. It was a gut feeling and he was quickly proven wrong by the emptiness of the house.

Naruto sighed and took his shoes off, making his way into the living room where a kotatsu lay in the middle. He dropped his body on to the small sitting cushion next to the kotatsu and placed his legs under the table. It was a different kind of bliss, one he hadn't felt in a while. He reminisced of times past when he would sit idly and watch TV from this very spot. But perhaps what he felt most was this odd sensation that there used to be someone else who sat beside him on this very table. Someone very precious to him. But this feeling did not make any sense simply because he was always living alone in this house.

Shaking the stray thoughts off his head Naruto fished around his bag to find small folder. He flipped through the various papers inside until finally he reached one that was specially laminated due to its importance. It was a certificate that awarded "Naruto Namikaze" the title of "Doctor of Philosophy" in Physics. In other words Naruto had completed his PhD degree in the past 4 years. He proudly placed the certificate proving his achievement on top of the table in front of him. While looking at it, Naruto realised he had something else that would fit perfectly next to this. So he flipped through his folder until he found another similar laminated certificate, one that awarded "Naruto Namikaze" the title of "Masters of Science" in Physics. This was the degree that had taken him another 4 years to complete before he did his PhD. The two of them combined took him the 8 years he was away from home.

He placed the two certificates next to each other and wondered if his parents would be proud of him right now if they were here. Although Naruto had no family to share his achievements with, once again he got this strange feeling that there was someone in his past who rejoiced with him in his accomplishments. Someone he had forgotten. But again, none of it made any sense to him and he was only left with a sore headache.

Not wanting to dwell on these strange thoughts any longer, Naruto got up and headed towards his bedroom to get refreshed. The room was just as he had left it. As soon as he entered it the first thing Naruto noticed was the small 1 metre telescope lying beside his bed and instantly, a flood of memories of all the midnight stargazing sessions from his childhood came rushing back to him. The telescope belonged to whoever previously occupied the house, but when Naruto first moved in here, this was the equipment that really allowed him make his curiosity of stargazing into a fully-fledged hobby that eventually made him decide to become a researcher in this field of study. He looked at his watch and realised that it was almost midnight right now.

"I do need to get some sleep, but I really can't resist putting this bad boy to use for old time's sake." Not being able to resist the temptation, Naruto took the telescope and exited the house through the back. He cut through the garden and walked a little distance until he reached a large grassy prairie. This was the perfect position to use the telescope since the entire night sky was entirely visible from here, with only the light from the moon illuminating it. "This place is just as amazing as it always was."

It didn't take Naruto long to set up the source of his past time and despite having worked with some of the world's most state of the art ground-based and space telescopes there was just something about this particular one that made it so special to him. He looked through the eyepiece and adjusted his field of view to a particular point on the sky that he knew all too well.

"I wonder what I'll see if I look for "HINA" with this." He said jokingly, knowing full well that it was physically impossible for this little telescope to show him what he wanted to see. "You've never failed me before old pal. So, what will you show me this time?"

After having kept his view through the eyepiece focused for a while, Naruto was just about to stop looking at that part of the sky which was at a 45 degree viewing angle. But suddenly a flash of incredibly bright light overwhelmed his sight.

"WHOA!" He was so startled that he pulled back several steps from the telescope and looked up at the sky only to find that the source of light was getting bigger and bigger as it got closer to the surface. While normally he would have been curious about this amazing find, right now he realised that the source of this unknown light was getting closer by the second and it looked to be on a collision course to this very area. There was no time to run, thus Naruto jumped to the ground and held both of his ears shut anticipating a severe impact. But seconds passed away into nearly a minute and nothing happened. Until finally something did happen…something that would change his life for good once again.

"Naruto-kun…we finally meet." He heard those words from an angelic voice. The voice also sounded all too familiar. Naruto looked up only to find the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Hinata was standing before him.

A maelstrom of emotions tore through Naruto at the sight of Hinata so much so that he didn't know what to do. He wanted to say something to her but words would not come out of his mouth. He got an incredible urge to hold her even though he knew it was wrong to do so to a person you didn't even know. In fact that was exactly the problem. It was the fact that despite his emotions and instincts telling him to embrace this woman standing in front with all his might, Naruto didn't know Hinata. He had no memories of her. Neither did he ever meet her before. But then why was he feeling this way? That question brought on the same kind of headache he felt every time he tried to recall the events that happened during the summer 4 years ago.

"W-Who are you? How d-do you know my n-name?" Naruto barely managed to ask her while trying to keep his sanity at bay.

"So you really don't remember me?" Hinata asked back with look of sadness on her face. "No, that's how it should be. But still, having you ask me those questions hurt quite a bit."

Her words and expression of sorrow constricted Naruto's lungs, making it almost hard to breathe. Just thinking that he was the cause of it all was too much for him to bear.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. You may not remember me now, but I assure you that the two of us have met before. My name is Hinata and there is something I must tell you."

"Hinata…" That name rung through his head time and time again. Naruto knew that it sounded very familiar and belonged to someone precious to him. Yet the fact that he couldn't remember this person drove him almost near madness.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER?! " Naruto held his head with both hands and shouted at the top of his lungs in a last ditch effort to bring back the lost memories that he once cherished so dearly.

Hinata quickly realised that Naruto's mind was nearing its breaking point. Her sudden appearance before him and his inability to recall the times they had spent together went against his instincts and emotions. His feelings for her were incredibly strong, but she didn't want those to become his undoing. Thus Hinata grabbed Naruto's right hand with her own and pulled him into a very tight embrace.

The warmth of her body and her left hand that was wrapped around his back brought Naruto's mind to a calm state once again. Before long, without even thinking about it, he himself had wrapped his own left arm around Hinata, increasing the strength of their embrace even further, which took away all the uneasiness in his body as well. Naruto felt that he was finally with the one person he had longed for all these years. But quickly he also realised how rude he must have been to hold on to this woman he was meeting for the very first time. It could be that she mistook him for someone else, which was very likely the case. That thought pained him, but he couldn't be so selfish.

"I'm really sorry for holding you like this." Naruto apologised sincerely. "But you seem to have me confused with someone else."

Hinata finally broke free from him and increased the distance between them slightly so that they could meet eye to eye. She still kept their right hands connected however.

"No…I am not mistaken." She told him with the utmost confidence. "I could never be mistaken about you Naruto-kun. I am a Hyuyan, someone from a distant planet from Earth. And the people of our planet hold a special bond with their significant others."

"Significant other?" Naruto asked, not understanding fully what she meant.

"As I mentioned before – I need to tell you something Naruto-kun." Hinata now looked him straight in the eye with an unflinching gaze. "You and I have a special relationship, one which can never be broken no matter where we may be."

The information that was relayed to Naruto did not quite register. In response, Hinata made him move his gaze down to their connected right hands. What he saw was something unbelievable – two bright glowing rose-like flowers of light had sprouted from the back of both of their hands and intertwined together.

"This is the proof of our relationship Naruto-kun." Hinata said to him with a smile so beautiful and bright that it outshone the moon itself. "The two of us are husband and wife."

It took his brain a few seconds to process the information.

"Husband and wife? Then that means…we're married?" Naruto asked himself before finally realising what that statement actually meant. "Wait…I'm married?! To an alien girl?! EH? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

And so it began…

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><p>I hope you liked this chapter. As before, I would love to hear your thoughts in reviews.<p>

To answer a few of your questions from last time:

**Flameraven1:** Don't worry lol. Naruto won't turn up with a pistol, or even a laser gun to fight Tobi. That would not be in anyone's best interest. He will have something though, which will come in later.

**Arthur Sontill:** Sorry if I caught you off guard from what happened in the second part of last chapter. I kind of meant it to have a bit of a shock value since first chapters generally tend to be rather slow paced most of the time. But as you've seen from this chapter, it won't be gruesome all the time.

**deltaprime11:** Earthlings will be pretty normal. I may think otherwise at some point and incorporate some kind of powerup but for now they're normal. Naruto however is special, as you'll find out a bit later.

**SkyUnih:** Naruto and Hinata's relationship is the main focus of this story. So you will see the two of them bond romantically and in other ways a lot. There won't be any shortage of that.

**NecroSaintCreed:** There is indeed a reason why Naruto and his children are special. You'll find out eventually.

Thanks to everyone else who also showed their support in the reviews.

I hope to see you all again. Take care until then.


	3. Reunion

**Reunion**

Welcome back to another chapter. I won't keep you here, rather I'll see you at the end.

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><p>"Ano Hinata-san, what are you doing?" Naruto asked the woman sitting next to him at the kotatsu while vigorously rubbing her cheeks against his shoulder.<p>

"Restoring Narutonium, which is an element that is vital to my existence. It only regenerates when I'm in physical contact with you though." Hinata replied as she continued on with her action with happiness evident in her face.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that there exists an element in outer space named after me. Let alone the fact that it is only produced when the two of us are in contact."

"That may be so, but I really can't help it Naruto-kun." Hinata's eyes became watery as she explained her predicament. "It's been so long that I've been separated from you. I've been counting each and every day for the past 4 years to meet you once again. The wait has been excruciating, but we're finally together and this time I won't let you go." Thus she grabbed on to his hand just as desperately as a child not wanting to be separated from its parents.

"I g-get it. So y-you don't h-have to hold me so t-tightly." Naruto barely managed stutter out. It wasn't that he hated the fact that Hinata was holding on to him. In fact it was quite the contrary. Every time the two of them made physical contact, it became more and more difficult for Naruto to keep control of himself. He had this intense urge to hold her back and never let go either. But that was something he had to refrain himself from doing, because if he gave in to his desires right now there was no telling what he would do to her. It was becoming increasingly painful to the point that even her voice was starting to make him lose his sense of reason and made this attraction towards her even more intense.

Naruto did not understand why this was the case. He had never before felt like this towards any other girl. In fact he was completely fine in being able to avoid women without any troubles unlike some men out there. Moreover, he never had much time to even think about romance and the likes, always being busy with his studies and research. Yet suddenly, this girl that he met not even an hour ago was driving him this crazy. Was this what they called love at first sight? Was this how all couples felt towards one another? No way. There was no way any one person could feel this level of attraction towards another. This just didn't feel normal to Naruto.

"I love you Naruto-kun. I love you so much that words cannot describe it. So this is the only I can express it and to keep my feelings for you from overwhelming myself."

Those words, they were way too much. Naruto had to quickly separate himself away from Hinata's grasp and move to the other side of the kotatsu before he did something to her he would regret later on. He refrained from even making eye contact with her for the time being since just looking at her made his heart beat uncontrollably.

"W-What's the matter Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked her beloved with a sense of worry. "Why'd you move away?"

"I-It's nothing really. It was kinda getting hot so I decided it'd be nice like this. I mean we have no shortage of space in this room after all." He made up an excuse. "A-ANYWAY! Hinata-san, I had a few questions for you."

"There's no need for you to be so formal with me. We're husband and wife. You can call me Hinata."

"O-Okay, Hinata it is then. About what you've told me so far…it's just a bit difficult for me to believe what you've been saying - the fact that you're an alien from a distant planet. I know that we met under some very weird circumstances, but you seem like any other girl to me."

Hinata thought about his question for a second and smiled. "I see. If that's your question then I can dispel your doubts about my origin pretty easily. Please look into my eyes Naruto-kun."

Although a bit reluctant at first, since he had calmed down from earlier, Naruto obliged and looked directly into Hinata's eyes. Upon closer look he could see that her irises were a very peculiar white colour with a slight purple tinge to them, without which they would have been indistinguishable from the sclera. He imagined it may have been a rare genetic trait of some kind. The black pupils in the middle of the eyes seemed pretty normal like anyone else.

"Look closely Naruto-kun and I'll show you one of our abilities." Just as she said so, her black pupils visibly became larger, filling up more of the iris. It was something Naruto had never seen any other person do before. Not that the human eye was capable of such a feat in the first place.

"W-What just happened?" He asked in astonishment.

"I'll show you." Hinata got up and walked over to the switch to turn off the lights. Since it was night time and all the doors and windows were shut off with curtains, the room became pitch black and Naruto couldn't see anything. Yet Hinata walked around the room casually, picked up the TV remote lying next to the TV and walked back to Naruto, gently tapping him on the shoulder and handing him the object. She even poured him a glass of water on the table before going back to turn on the lights and sitting back down in her place.

"How the heck did you manage to do all of that in pitch black darkness? I couldn't see a single thing, yet for you it was like it wasn't dark at all."

"The human eye and in fact the majority of living beings in the universe are only able to see what is known as visible light. It is only when an object emits light or light is reflected off them can humans see that particular object. When there is no light present, just like in the dark room earlier, it is impossible for one to see. But as you know, visible light is also energy, or more specifically electromagnetic radiation, and it is only one type of radiation. There are six other types of radiation besides light that Earthlings can't see with their eyes. For reference, let's say light has a medium amount of energy. In that case infra-red, microwave and radio wave are radiation that have lower energies than visible light, while ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays have much higher energies than light respectively. Although most species in the universe can only see visible light, we Hyuyans can change the structure of our eyes to see every type of radiation out there. For example, earlier even though it was pitch black for you, I changed my eyes slightly so that I could see infrared radiation. Since infrared is commonly known as "body heat" and is given off by all living things as well as most objects at room temperature, I could see you as well as everything else in this room in complete darkness. It's akin to seeing through a thermal or night-vision camera, except our eyes can do much more. Because of this particular ability of being able see every type of radiation and not just visible light, we Hyuyans are rather famously known across the universe for possessing the "All Seeing Eyes". While I feel that accolade may be a bit over-exaggerated, these eyes really can see nearly everything."

Naruto was flabbergasted. He had never heard or seen any other human being who was capable of such feats. To be able to see anything other than light one would require specialised equipment, yet she used her eyes so casually to do so. He was completely speechless.

But Hinata wasn't done yet. She picked up a pen that was lying on top of the table and held it up to face height. "Mind if I take this pen?"

"Go ahead." He replied, curious as to what she was up to now after all that was explained.

"What I mentioned previously is but one part of what our eyes are capable of. We can also use our eyes in a much more offensive manner." As soon as she said so, a drastic change overtook her appearance – her pupils disappeared completely only leaving a black circular outline, while the veins around her eyes bulged significantly, giving her a very intimidating look.

It was so scary in fact that Naruto almost fell over on his back from the shock.

"W-W-W-WHAT HAPPENED T-T-TO YOUR E-E-EYES!?" He asked with both a sense of dread and worry.

"Watch this pen closely and you shall find out." Hinata instructed him as they both moved their gazes on to the pen.

It only took an instant, but suddenly the entire top half of the pen was disintegrated, leaving only the bottom half in Hinata's hand.

"Where? What? How?" Only those words came out of Naruto's mouth.

"You see, besides being able to see every type of electromagnetic radiation, we Hyuyans can also emit bursts of energy from our eyes. In this case, I actually fired a concentrated burst of high energy gamma ray which completely broke down the pen on an atomic level." Hinata explained as her eyes returned back to normal. "This is the other ability of our eyes and it is the primary reason why the Hyuyan eye is considered to be one of the most powerful in the universe, if not THE most powerful. In fact, there is only one other race out there whose eyes are comparable to ours in terms of raw power and utility."

Not that he had doubted her earlier given the circumstances under which they met, but if there were any doubts left in his mind that this girl was an alien then they were now completely gone. No person on Earth could do what she did with her eyes. Naruto had a look of fear in his eyes. He did not want to make this person unhappy, for he did not want to meet the same end as that pen. However Hinata picked up on this and quickly moved over to Naruto's side and held his hands with her own.

"I didn't mean to s-scare you N-Naruto-kun. I know our eyes m-may be a bit different, but I'm also a humanoid just like yourself. Everything e-else about us is p-pretty much i-identical. Plus I d-don't go around s-shooting laser b-beams from my eyes all the t-time. It's only in c-cases of emergency or importance t-that I do so like for s-self-defense and things like that. ANYWAY, I'M SORRY IF I SCARED YOU! It's wasn't my intention and I only just wanted to prove to you that I'm actually from a different planet. P-Please don't hate me. A-As your wife, t-that would be too much for me to bear."

She lowered her gaze and closed her eyes as a form of apology to Naruto, tears dropping down from the fear that she may have alienated him a bit too much by overwhelming him.

Naruto's heart dropped seeing her in this state. For whatever reason he just could not bear to see her unhappy, let alone in tears. It made even the simple act of breathing difficult for him.

"I don't think I could ever hate you…for that. In fact, I think your abilities are actually quite cool. So there's no reason for you to cry." Naruto said while rubbing the tears off her face.

"Then you believe me?" She asked with a sense of hope.

"For now, I believe that you're indeed from a different planet. But there are still many questions I have left about our relationship and what exactly happened in the past between us. I need answers to those before I'm able to fully make up my mind."

"If it's questions about our relationship then there is no reason to worry. I'll take care of it all tomorrow. I just need to wait for a few things to complete in my spaceship to do so."

Although those were meant to be consoling words, the concept of Hinata preparing something for him in her spaceship sent shivers down his spine. What could she possibly do to him in her spaceship to "answer" all his questions? Isn't this what happened in all those alien conspiracy theories? Wasn't this the starting point to those human abduction documentaries he had seen on TV? Suddenly her innocent outlook seemed not so innocent after all. He quickly grabbed on to his backside tightly with both hands and backed away a bit.

"A-Ano Hinata-san. I know it must be very tempting, but there honestly is nothing good to see in that region of the human body. In fact, I'm certain that there's absolutely no way for you to convince me of anything by experimenting with that part of my body." He said in a shaky voice.

"What you do mean Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked without any clue of what Naruto was going on about.

"I'm not emotionally prepared yet to have that kind of thing done to me." Naruto was now on the verge of tears. "In fact I don't think I'll EVER be emotionally prepared for that. So please, anything but that."

"What are you talking about Naruto-kun?" Hinata was now utterly confused.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE ANALLY PROBED!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, getting his feelings of insecurity out all at once.

"W-W-Whatever made you t-t-think I'd do t-that?" Hinata stuttered from embarrassment and her cheeks turned a beet red in colour.

"That's what all the eyewitnesses to alien abductions say. It's apparently quite a common occurrence, as absurd as it may sound."

"Please don't believe such stories. They're all made up. In fact from the documentations I've read, there are only two people from Earth including yourself who were ever directly approached by aliens from outer space."

"There was someone else beside me who also knew about the existence of intelligent life outside of Earth?" Naruto was very interested in finding out about this person.

"Indeed there was, but I do not know the details of the case." Hinata admitted." Anyway, as I mentioned before, I'll clarify any confusion you may have about our relationship by restoring your memories of the past."

"Restoring…my memories?" Naruto asked in a surprised tone. "What do you mean?"

"It is as I said. The reason you do not remember me or anything that happened between us is because I was the one who locked away your memories of our time together 4 years ago before I left. This was due to various complications we faced back then. After all, I was never meant to come in contact with you in the first place. But I did, and thus we ended up forging a link that would connect us together even across the universe. Despite the pain of separation I had to endure while being away from you for so long, I'm truly glad that I got to meet you back then Naruto-kun. So I have no regrets. I believe that you will feel the same way once I restore your memory tomorrow. I will also answer all of your other questions about us then. So I request you to please allow me just one more day for a few preparations to complete. Everything will become clear then."

Naruto exhaled a large breath. She just told him a ton of information and not all of it made sense to him either. But he could hear the sincerity in her voice. What she said she meant. Thus he was willing to accept her request for the time being. Not that he could take much more for tonight.

"I also happen to think that this is a good place to stop for tonight as well. I've had a very long journey to get back home and you have given me way more information than my brain can already process. It may be for the better if I got some sleep and continued our conversation tomorrow."

"T-Thank you." Hinata expressed her gratitude earnestly. "In reality I probably should have approached you tomorrow once I had everything ready to restore your memory, but as soon as I saw you I could no longer control myself and rushed over here. As your wife, this is the place where I belong…by my husband's side. But I understand if you still aren't comfortable with me being around yet, in which case I will spend the night at my spaceship and come back tomorrow."

Somehow just hearing about the concept of Hinata leaving almost felt to Naruto as though someone was about to rip an organ out of his body. It made him feel sick. He didn't know why he felt this way towards a person he just met such a short time ago, but he certainly did not want to keep feeling this way.

"You don't have to leave." Naruto quickly interjected. "I've got enough space in this house for the two of us. That is of course if you want to stay."

"OF COURSE I'LL STAY!" Hinata was overjoyed. She looked like she was about to jump for joy.

"In that case let's get you sorted out." Naruto replied equally as happily. It wasn't often that he had company at his house. The prospect of having another person stay with him was one Naruto welcomed. It definitely beat the loneliness he felt while living alone in this house during his childhood.

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><p>Hope you liked this chapter. As always reviews are greatly appreciated and help keep me motivated.<p>

After reading what you guys had to say from last chapter, I was glad to see people were picking up on certain hidden points and quite a few good questions were raised. These will be answered eventually. It's always nice to see these interesting points being raised and people reading between the lines. They always make me think and in turn write better. So I thank you all for your participation and help.

Until next time.


	4. A Restless Night

**A Restless Night**

This chapter was a lot of fun for me to write as a NaruHina fan. So I hope you guys like it as well.

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><p>While Hinata was in the restroom refreshing herself, Naruto worked hard in getting everything prepared for the two of them to sleep. It wasn't always that he had someone staying over, so Naruto got a spare futon and set it up on the ground in one of the two extra bedrooms in the house beside the master bedroom.<p>

"I think this should be good." He said to himself, feeling pretty confident that the futon, the pillow and the blanket would make for a comfortable night's sleep.

Just as he finished Hinata entered the room looking curiously at the set up.

"You got back at the right time. I've finished making sleeping arrangements." Naruto stated with a wide grin.

"But this looks like it is only suitable for one person." Hinata commented on the futon's small size that would really only accommodate one person.

"That's the plan. Anyway, let's go to the other room." Naruto directed Hinata and took her to the main bedroom which consisted of a large double bed. "This is where you'll be sleeping."

Hinata knew from before that this was the room where Naruto normally stayed and looked at him in confusion. "Wait then where are you going to sleep?"

"I'll be in the other room of course."

"I don't understand. This bed is big enough for the both of us. Why do you need to go elsewhere?"

"We can't sleep together. No way." Naruto rejected strongly. He was already having trouble controlling himself while being around her. He didn't want to even imagine the scenario of the two of them sharing the same bed.

"But we are husband and wife. Is it not normal for us to sleep together?" She asked with a perplexed look.

"That may be so, but I don't think it is right for me to sleep with a woman I met just an hour ago."

"Then you don't trust me?" Hinata's eyes got teary after hearing his explanation.

Seeing her sad expression once again caused him a great deal of discomfort. He didn't want to go through with this once again.

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just…I…how do I put it…it's that…it…ARGGGHH!" He got frustrated with his own lack of resolve and decided to lay it out flat. "Look, the simple reason is that I think you are really beautiful and I probably would not be able to get any sleep whatsoever if we shared a bed together. So I hope you understand why I'm not ready yet."

Hinata turned away from Naruto and blushed lightly from his honest response. It wasn't the first time he had complimented her, but hearing him do so after so many years really made her heart flutter.

"I-If that is how you feel, then I'll respect your decision." She turned around to look at him sincerely once again. "But please, allow me to stay in the other room. This bed is yours Naruto-kun and I would feel bad staying here by myself."

Naruto shook his head in disagreement. "I can't let you do that. You're the first guest staying at this house in forever. This is the least I can do to make sure your stay here is comfortable."

"But Naruto-kun-" She was about to say something in retaliation, but Naruto cut her off.

"No buts. You're not going to change my mind in this matter." He said sternly at first but smiled at her in the end. "Plus going by what you said…what kind of husband would I be if I made my wife sleep on the ground while I was sleeping on the bed?"

Hinata looked down at the ground and nodded lightly. He may not have accepted everything she had told him yet, but it made her happy to find that he was being so considerate of her. Then again that was the kind of person Naruto was – one who cared greatly for his friends.

"Actually, there is something I was meaning to ask." Naruto said to bring her attention back to him. "You've been wearing that bulky jacket and trousers since you got here. Have you got a change of clothes? I can't imagine it'll be very comfortable to sleep in those."

Hinata looked down at her own outfit which consisted of a light blue jacket with white sleeves and dark blue trousers which were great for space travel purposes because of the special material they were made of, but they definitely weren't made with amazing comfort in mind.

"I wore these since they're especially made to last under all kinds of weather conditions; perfect for vising various planets. But you're right. They aren't the best clothes to sleep in and I'd have to go back to my spaceship to get a change of clothes. This is a bit of a conundrum."

Naruto thought for a second before coming up with a quick solution. "Actually, if you're okay with it, I can lend you a pair of my sleeping pajamas and shirt. It may not be the perfect fit for you, but I think they'll certainly be better than what you're wearing right now. You can grab your clothes tomorrow."

"Naruto-kun's sleeping dress…" Hinata thought dreamily for a second before snapping back to reality. "Y-Yes that would be good. I'd really appreciate that."

"Alright then, give me a second. I'll find you some now." He went over to the wardrobe and rummaged around for half a minute before bringing out a complete sleeping dress set. He handed over the cotton shirt and pajamas to her.

"Thank you." Hinata took the clothes and placed them on the bed, starting to undress from her current clothes.

"WHOA! GIMME A SECOND!" Seeing her change, Naruto quickly rushed out of the room and shut the door behind him to allow her some privacy. "At least let me get out before you start changing."

"Ah I'm sorry. When we lived together back then, I would get changed casually in your presence. I suppose I acted upon a habit. I do apologise."

"It's fine. I was just a bit startled. That is all."

"You can come in now Naruto-kun. I'm done changing." She said from the other side of the door.

Naruto released a big breath of relief and re-entered but what he saw almost gave him a nosebleed. Hinata looked beautiful to him before but her body was covered well by her bulky clothes. Now that she was wearing Naruto's sleeping dress, which was a tight fit on her, he could clearly see all the curves and even the bountiful size of her "assets" which looked like they were about to burst out of the shirt any second. His eyes seemed to have a mind of their own as they traced her body from top to bottom despite him trying to avert them away desperately. To Naruto, Hinata was the very peak of womanhood and he could stare at her all day like this, not getting bored for even a second. Eventually he slapped himself hard enough on the face to break the trance and think normally once again.

When he was younger Naruto had heard others say that a woman was the man's biggest weakness. He didn't quite understand them before, thinking that people were over-exaggerating about the matter. He never felt that way towards anyone. But now he knew exactly what they meant because at this moment even being near this person was causing him not to think straight. What was it about her that made her so attractive to his eyes? He didn't want to stay and find out.

"It seems you're good for the night, in which case I'll let you get some sleep. I'm sure you're tired and I am too. So I'll see you tomorrow morning. If there's anything else you need let me know." He blurted out quickly and left for his own room before anything else happened.

Naruto laid his body down on the futon and pulled the blanket over himself, covering even his head. His heart was beating fast and he exhaled several long breaths to calm himself down.

"_Seriously, what is going on? Why do I feel like this whenever she's around? I've never felt like this ever before, so why now? Am I really…in love?"_

Although Hinata did say that she and Naruto were married, the concept of love had always been so farfetched to Naruto. He just didn't know what to make out of any of this.

"_Only a few hours ago I was just another single man coming back home to hopefully spend a quiet and relaxing summer. Yet suddenly I'm now married to an alien girl with seemingly "all-seeing" eyes. How the heck did any of this happen?"_ He wondered within his mind but found no answer. _"Perhaps this is all just a dream. Maybe if I rest for a while and get some shut eye I'll wake up tomorrow and find out that all of this was the result of the stress I built up doing a research degree for 4 years. Yeah, that sounds about right. Tomorrow it'll all go back to the usual. So let's get some sleep."_

However it was easier said than done. He didn't even know if he wanted things to go back to normal at this point. The part of his mind that was already telling him that he wanted this woman around was starting to get louder and louder by the second until he couldn't take it anymore. He put another pillow over his head and forced down in an attempt to stop the madness that was going on in his head. After flipping around in the futon for what seemed like hours he was finally able to fall asleep.

But just as luck would have it, he now started to dream about Hinata. Within it he saw himself returning home after a long day's work only to be greeted by his wife.

"Would you like to have dinner Naruto-kun?" She asked with a heart-warming smile. "Or would you like to have a bath?"

Hinata's smile now turned into a deep red blush. "Or perhaps you'd like to have…me?"

Just as any man would have guessed, the dream Naruto decided to go with the third option and the scenario quickly started to escalate beyond PG-13.

Before things could get too heated though the real Naruto's eyes jolted wide open. His eyes were bloodshot and a serious headache made matters worse.

"_Brilliant…now I'm even dreaming about her when I was thinking all of this could possibly be a dream in and of itself. Can one dream within a dream? How many layers deep am I right now?"_ He questioned himself in his own mind in an attempt to regain his sanity.

Not much time had passed from when he fell asleep and now that he was woken up again he noticed a peculiar change. He was sleeping sideways and felt a light yet noticeable weight over the lower half of his body. He moved his hand over to investigate, only to grasp onto something slender and soft.

"Ahn…" He heard a small squeak from behind but decided it was all in his mind.

Now he felt something small and light resting across his mid-section. He moved his hand over to grasp on to the soft object quite firmly.

"Uhh…" Another squeak came from behind and this time he was having trouble convincing himself that it was indeed all in his mind.

"_Definitely a leg and a hand…"_ He reported his own findings to himself. Thus to confirm his suspicions he moved his hand behind his back only to grasp on to a soft waist.

"Naruto-kun…not so rough…" Hinata murmured within her sleep.

"_Eeeehhhhhhhhhhh? It's Hinata."_ He almost shouted out from shock but barely managed to keep it in. _"She's using me as a body pillow."_

Naruto's heart was now beating so fast that he feared the organ might just burst out of his chest any second. He tried to calm himself down but to no avail.

Hinata seemed to have come over to this room and snuck into the futon with him during the brief period Naruto was asleep. Although the sleeping arrangement was for one person only, she had somehow managed to snuggle in close enough to him to allow for the both of them to fit in. However, this meant that there was barely any distance between the two. Given Naruto's movements to try and increase that distance, Hinata's body automatically moved in tandem to close that gap and grasp on to him even stronger.

Naruto was now in an even greater bind. His attempts to escape had backfired and now Hinata's body was completely pressed up to his back. He could feel the softness of it all and it was driving him nuts.

"_My limits are being tested. They are surely being tested."_ He said to himself not knowing whether he should be crying or smiling about his current situation. To him it was the first time that he ever shared a bed with the opposite gender and man was this an experience.

Naruto squirmed around under her grasp only to now find himself face to face with Hinata, their noses touching lightly. He could clearly see her gentle and peaceful sleeping face. At that moment, Naruto felt this intense urge to close the gap between their lips. He wanted to do so very badly and even started to act upon that impulse, only stopping himself inches short, moving his face away while being ashamed of what he was about to do to this sleeping girl.

"_How could I? She trusted me and here I am trying to take advantage of her."_ He kicked himself mentally. However, another part of his consciousness now started to speak. _"But she came here of her own accord. She's the one who chose to sleep with me. I mean, we are meant to be husband and wife right? In that case there wouldn't be anything wrong if I did decide to…kiss her. It's only one kiss. Heck she would probably appreciate it. NO NO NO NO NO! WHAT AM I THINKING?! WHEN DID MY GALLANT AND PURE SELF BECOME SO TAINTED AND CORRUPT! I SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF MYSELF!"_

As the various factions within Naruto's mind battled each other, a voice brought him back to reality.

"Naruto-kun and me…we're a happy family of two." Hinata spoke from within her sleep with a smile on her face.

This made Naruto realise that Hinata herself was probably also dreaming right now about the two of them. Except her dream seemed to be a lot more innocent than the one he had. Seeing her so happy made him feel a sense of elation within himself. He had never been so delighted in seeing another person's joy. He wanted this moment to last forever.

"Now there are four. Our family just got even bigger." Hinata continued on even more happily.

Her statement made Naruto wonder what she was talking about. Now she was talking about four people? This was a bit curious. Before he could think about it much, the brightness in her expression started to diminish, replaced with darkness.

"No, please don't take him away. I don't want to lose him. My family…OUR FAMILY!" She started to writhe around in her sleep in discomfort and grief.

It became apparent to Naruto that Hinata's dream had just turned into a nightmare, one that was causing her great suffering. He wanted to do something to help her, but didn't know what. He felt just as distraught as her at this moment.

"I…I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I failed to protect him. Forgive me. Please…I beg you…forgive me." She apologised in her sleep as tears started to flow from her eyes, soaking the pillow they were sleeping on.

With nothing else he could think of, Naruto gently pulled her head close to his chest. He embraced her as strongly as he could to lend her his support and to take away her pain, for her pain was his pain. Her happiness was his happiness. He finally came to terms with these facts. His feelings for her were now crystal clear to him. She was indeed someone special to him, whatever the reason, whether he could explain it or not. He just knew it.

It seemed Naruto's actions worked as Hinata rested her head on his hand and snuggled in right next to his heart. Naruto become a source of comfort for Hinata as she held on to him firmly, and seeing this Naruto felt a wave a relief wash over him. With his mind and body finally calmed, before long he too was fast asleep, embracing her fully in his arms. Thus the night became peaceful for them both.

But there was someone else in the dead of the night who wasn't quite seeking the same peace.

Unbeknownst to all, another spaceship was currently in orbit around Earth. From within it, a certain person closely observed Naruto and Hinata.

"I cannot believe my eyes. I thought it was impossible at first, but now I have no doubts." The masked man, Tobi said to himself in disbelief. "The person the Hyuyan princess came all the way to Earth to meet was…Naruto."

Tobi was left completely speechless by what he saw until finally after a minute a wide grin appeared beneath his mask.

"I didn't even think you were alive after everything I did during your birth Naruto. But now I feel so silly for not realising where you had been all this time. I should have known Kushina would have sent you here to Earth. It's just so obvious given your father's identity. Yet I didn't even consider it a possibility. What a fool I was." Even though he was surprised at first, excitement had now overtaken Tobi's voice. "To think I'd be able to see you once again after all these years is simply mind blowing. Above all, the fact that you are the father of the Hyuyan princess' children is unfathomable. But this makes everything so much more interesting. I can only wonder what you'll do when you find out the truth behind your own lineage. This is so very interesting indeed."

* * *

><p>A little tease of what is to come.<p>

I really did try to turn up that NaruHina dial in this chapter. In reality though, there is actually a reason as to why Naruto feels the way he does towards Hinata.

Getting back to some of your questions/remarks:

**Haruko Ai**: Wow I'm really impressed that you picked up on Hinata's statement about the "other race" whose eyes are comparable to the Hyuyans. This race will indeed be introduced shortly. I wonder if anyone else can guess who they are ;)

**Chewie Cookies:** There might just be a surprise for you in that matter, old friend :)

**Flameraven1:** About Naruto's mother...much more to come. But for now, just a little teaser. Quite a bit of information packed in there though.

**SkyUnih:** In due time my friend all of your questions will be answered. But I wonder if I'm currently raising more questions than providing answers haha lol. That's not a bad thing in my opinion though.

Thanks to you all for reading and reviewing. It is what keeps me writing more. So I hope we can continue. Until next time, take care and be well. Mata-ne.


	5. The Strongest Race

**The Strongest Race**

Location: Ucia, The Ucian Archipelago, Pandora's Cluster

Ucia – a planet that existed at one of the furthest reaches of the universe and home to the strongest race in the cosmos. The Ucians secluded themselves from all other advanced races in the universe.

The planet Ucia itself was also unique since it orbited a black hole, albeit a large distance away from it to not get pulled in. While all other stars released light that lit up their surrounding planets, this dead star absorbed all light that reached it, plunging Ucia into a state of perpetual darkness. There was no such thing as natural daytime on this planet. It was always night time. However since light is essential for life to exist, the Ucians created large artificial low orbit satellites known as illuminators over every city which shone light and other forms of radiation down on the land below during a certain part of each day, playing the same kind of role as the sun did for Earth. This created an artificial day-night cycle for the inhabitants of the planet. But even then, there were a lot of other factors that were also controlled by the Ucians to make the existence of life possible on this unconventional planet. Nonetheless, this was the place the Ucians chose to live in due to some very particular reasons.

A young man about the same age as Naruto and Hinata, 26 was currently walking through an empty street of the largest city on this planet. This city was special however since it was built and dedicated entirely to research purposes. It was a place where the brightest minds were brought together to investigate various phenomenon. Given that it was night time, the illuminators were currently non-operational and as such darkness shrouded the entire city. Also since that working hours were over and there were no residential areas in the city, the place was like a ghost town at this time.

Sasuke walked through the dimly lit streets of research city until he arrived at the entrance of one of its largest facilities. The sign at the entrance read "Humanoid Research Facility". As soon as Sasuke stepped in front of the doors, they slid open having performed an automatic identification check. It did not take him long before he was in front of his destination, a room inside the building whose sign read "Classified Research Area – Designated Personnel Only". Although very few people could get into this place or even knew what was inside, Sasuke was simply able to walk in without any issues at all. After all, he was the person in charge.

The room was almost entirely empty as far as the eyes could so. There was only one large cylindrical tube at the middle of the room which was connected from the floor to the roof. The research chamber was filled with some form of transparent liquid and a three year old child with dark purple hair was floating within it, countless wires connected to almost every part of his body and a respirator covered his face apart from his eyes, which were both forced shut with two small metallic pads that were also used for taking measurements. The child seemed to be asleep right now due to the effect of anaesthetics.

Sasuke spent a few seconds staring at the large screen in front of the tube, looking at the results that were being displayed. Eventually after a while he looked up at the subject of interest. So far his expression was emotionless but as soon as he caught a glimpse of the little boy, Sasuke's face visibly showed anger. He looked annoyed and frustrated. He was not happy to say the least.

"Three years' worth of research. Three…long…years and NOTHING!" He shouted for the first time since he arrived at the place, no one else present to hear him. "What is up with this child? He is from the lineage of the current Hyuyan royal family. We got the absolute best we could find. Yet we've made no progress whatsoever. One anomaly after another. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU KID?!"

Sasuke was normally a very calm and emotionless man, but at this instance even he couldn't control his anger. Before he could do anything else though, he received a notification that there was a call from him. Although he didn't want to talk to anyone right now, once he saw the one who was calling he reluctantly received it.

"What is it Tobi?" He asked in a stoic tone that was more in line with how he usually talked. "I'm not in the mood to have a conversation right now."

"Trust me Sasuke I have ground breaking information. I wouldn't have called you otherwise." Tobi said in a very serious tone. "It would seem that your idea of tailing the Hyuyan princess was well worth the effort. The person she came to Earth to meet is one you would never be able to guess."

"If I cannot possibly guess then what are you waiting for? Stop wasting my time and tell me already so that I can get back to work."

"The person she came to meet and the one who is the father to her children is none other than Naruto. I'll repeat it once again if it wasn't clear. The father of that child we have in our possession is Naruto!"

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Naruto…wait…NARUTO?!" Sasuke's normally emotionless voice now showed astonishment. "You do not actually mean it's him? How is that even possible? After everything that happened to him during his birth, how did he even survive? There's absolutely no way he could be the father of this child. Are you sure about this? I mean you were there when it all happened right…the annihilation of his race."

"Indeed I'm positive and it's all starting to become clear to me now." Tobi replied. "His mother planned this all along to protect him from me and to save him from meeting the same end as the rest of his kind. She intended for him to be sent to Earth, the place where his father originated from. Her plan worked as well since I was completely unaware of Naruto's location up until now. But thanks to the Hyuyan princess, he is now right in front of my very eyes."

"Has he realised yet who he truly is?" Sasuke asked. "Did the Hyuyans figure it out?"

"No, it would seem they have not. He thinks of himself as a mere Earthling….how wrong he is." Tobi sighed at the thought. "Naruto does not yet know about his own lineage and powers. He has no recognition of the fact that he is the last remaining member of a now extinct race which was once known to be amongst the strongest in the universe. Given that I have known him since his birth, it is almost sad to see him so unaware about his own self."

Sasuke was deep in thought until a sudden realisation struck him. "WAIT! It's all starting to make sense now. If Naruto is the father of this child then that would mean that this child you've captured has inherited his genes as well, which would account for the various anomalies we've been encountering thus far in our results. Since we previously only knew the mother's identity and assumed the father to also be a run off the mill Hyuyan, we were thrown off completely when the results from analysing this child were different from our expectations. But as it turns out, his father is anything but regular."

"Indeed, that is what I wanted to tell you. I think we can finally start to unravel the mystery behind our little test subject with this breakthrough. There was a reason why he exhibited traits unfamiliar to a regular Hyuyan after all. What is most amazing though is the fact that his parents actually got together and had a child in the first place, especially given the very unusual way in which the people of both of their races pick their partners. And not only that, but Naruto is the only one left of his race living on Earth. Under these circumstances it is a miracle that he was able to meet a Hyuyan, let alone marry her and conceive a child together."

"That was our original goal after all, to analyse the DNA from the Hyuyan and Naruto's races and then produce computer simulations of what a combined genetic sequence from both races might look like. That was the whole reason we brought this child here after all. But it would seem what we have right in front of our eyes is leaps and bounds beyond what we ever hoped to achieve - a living breathing specimen that has inherited the genes of both races. We just didn't notice it, perhaps because it was beyond our expectations." For the first time there was a smile on Sasuke's face as he touched the glass tube holding the boy.

"Given the mixing of his mother and father's genes, I would even surmise that the child may have inherited the powers of the long lost ancestral race…the key that we seek." Tobi added.

"This child…if his parental lineages truly have granted him the power of the ancestors, then he may very well become our trump card. We just need to find a way to awaken that dormant power." Sasuke said while he observed the boy closely.

"You're absolutely right. But for now, I'm going to go pay Naruto a visit. The last time I saw him was right after his birth. I would like to meet him again. It has been too long after all."

"You will do no such thing Tobi." Sasuke ordered strictly. "Return back to Ucia at once. Your job there is done."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that Sasuke. I want to meet Naruto face to face. It is something that I have to do."

"No, you can't. I cannot let you take that risk."

Tobi laughed loudly at the statement. "You are not insinuating that Naruto would be able to harm me in any way are you? Or perhaps you are thinking that the battalion the Hyuyan leader sent after his daughter is going to stop me?"

Indeed as they spoke, an entire battalion unit of several hundred Hyuyan warships were scattered all around the various solar system planets watching out for anything unusual happening around Hinata. This was done by her father without her knowledge to ensure her safety.

"You're wrong." Sasuke replied. "I'm not afraid of what they might do to you. Rather I fear what you might do to them. Understand Tobi that Naruto is still an incredibly valuable subject as the last remaining survivor of an extinct race. Until we are sure this child can provide us with what we want, it is paramount we do not do anything to jeopardise Naruto's life. He could be vital later on."

"I do not have any intention to hurt him-"

"You are the person who despite me telling you to steal this child stealthily after he was born, decided to barge into the Hyuyan planet, give their princess an impromptu surgery to forcibly extract her child and EMPed part of their planetary defence system to escape." Sasuke explained as calmly as he could despite the irritation he had. "Plus given your history with Naruto and his race, I do not trust you to have subtlety."

Tobi sighed on account of his own actions. "I suppose I cannot argue with that, but it doesn't change the fact that I will meet Naruto once again."

Sasuke knew that once Tobi had set his mind on something, it was impossible to turn it around. "Fine have it your way. You can meet him, but not right now. We will keep track of his whereabouts, so I want you to wait a bit longer until we've conducted some more research on his child. In return when you do go to meet him, I will let you take the fox with you."

"The fox!" Tobi was excited from hearing the proposition. "I wonder how Naruto will react. Yes that could be interesting. Very interesting indeed. Fine I'll take you up on that offer. I'm coming back. I'll talk to you once I return."

"Good, I'll be waiting. For now we can leave Naruto and the Hyuyan princess alone. There is much we need to discuss and undertake in regards to their child." With those final words of Sasuke their communication ended.

Sasuke looked up at the boy and pondered about all the possibilities. His excitement was starting to become visible. He turned around and focused his vision at a point a few feet in front of him. His eyes glowed red, activating one of the Ucian's special abilities. The point where Sasuke focused his eyes was torn apart, creating a dark void in the spacetime continuum. A small black entranceway the size of a human now floated in front of Sasuke.

"I suppose I should not waste any time in getting started." Sasuke said to himself as he stepped through the portal to the other side of the boundary.

Outside of the laboratory room, another man a few years older than Sasuke was listening to the entire conversation. Although his expression would not tell it, he was rather perturbed by what he heard.

"What are you planning to do with that child Sasuke?" Itachi asked himself, worried about the future of the various races that were now involved in this incident.

Location: Prison of Beasts, The Eye's Dimension, Unknown Space.

Sasuke walked within darkness. As far as the eyes could see there was nothing around. But he kept walking because his special eyes told showed him the way. The place where Sasuke was walking through right now was a location only a few Ucians could enter whose eyes were strong enough to tear open a hole in the fabric of spacetime. That is why this place was called "The Eye's Dimension" and it was in a completely unknown part of space.

The Eye's Dimension was an incredibly large place. No one even knew exactly how large it was. Hence it was divided into several smaller parts. The part where Sasuke was located right now was used as a prison to keep a certain beast locked in from the outside world. A beast too powerful to control. Sasuke finally arrived in front of the beast.

A colossally large mechanical fox laid in front of Sasuke in a deep slumber. The beast's size made Sasuke look like an ant in comparison. The fox's tail would go on for miles if it weren't curled up right now. Just one look at its menacing face would send shivers down anyone's back and make them lose consciousness out of fear. But Sasuke stood in front of the beast unflinchingly, looking at it with great curiosity.

"Naruto, your race may not exist any longer but look at this beautiful relic of destruction that they have left behind." He said with a malevolent smile. "Although the Ucians could only imprison the beast thus far, we now finally have the key that will allow us to gain control of it. And I can only thank you and the Hyuyan for providing us with that key…in other words, your son."

"To control this beast that child's dormant powers must be awakened, and I think I know how. Let's see what happens when the kid is influenced by this beast's blood lust. After all, his kind is the one that created this beast in the first place." Sasuke proceeded to press several buttons on the small screen attached to his wrist to initiate preparations. "Now child, show me the power that results from combining your mother's Hyuyan lineage with your father's Uzumark lineage. Bring forth the power that was lost from this universe many millennia ago. The power that is said to rival even the Ucians."

Thus unbeknownst to Naruto and Hinata, their son was about to face great pain.

* * *

><p>A little change of pace. We'll go back to Naruto and Hinata again of course, but I wanted to introduce the other main race in this chapter.<p>

**The Crimson Lotus King:** A lot of times when I am by myself and I'm trying to solve a problem, I tend to explain it to myself out loud. Of course I don't do that in public because that would be weird. But is this just me? I thought others might do that too. Now you've got me a bit worried. Since I kind of do it myself, I made Tobi do that little external monologue. If it seems a bit out of place you could imagine it being his internal thought as well.

**anon:** Naruto the space opera. I like that name lol.

As always, thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in reviews. Until next time, be well and take care :)


	6. Homecoming

**Homecoming**

It has happened everyone. It has FINALLY happened. Our OTP is real. NaruHina is SO FRIGIN REAL!

*Tears of joy*

It is such a beautiful thing. I'm sure all of you are just as happy as me. So let's get on with this...

* * *

><p><span>Location: Earth, Milky Way, Local Group<span>

Naruto woke up in a daze. So much happened last night that his brain was still recovering from the shock. The first thing he noticed as soon as he woke up was the distinct lack of a certain woman who had seemingly barged into his life quite unceremoniously. But her absence quickly became a cause of panic. Did she leave?

Naruto jumped up and dashed out of the room in search of Hinata. Upon exiting the room however he smelt heaven. The aroma dragged him all the way to the dining room which consisted of an open plan kitchen. There he found Hinata preparing what appeared to be morning breakfast.

"Oh Naruto-kun, you're already up. I didn't bother you since you were sleeping so soundly." She looked at him and said with a smile. "I went out for a bit to get some ingredients. I'm just getting breakfast ready and it's your favourite."

Naruto moved next to her and eyed the dish being cooked in a massive container, his mouth salivating instantly.

"RAMEN!" Naruto screamed in joy. "How did you know I wanted this so bad?"

"Come now Naruto-kun. Of course I would know your likes and dislikes. It's my duty to know. In any case, please take a seat and I'll bring it over in a second."

Naruto could only nod and sit at the dining table. Right now he loved Hinata. Then again he pretty much loved anyone who served him ramen.

It took only a few minutes of waiting before a smoking hot bowl of ramen was served in front of Naruto. To him the bowl looked like something that had come directly down from heaven, beautiful beyond words. It almost pained him to eat, but he couldn't stop himself from doing so.

"It's been a long time since I last prepared ramen, but I hope you'll like it." Hinata handed over the chopsticks to Naruto.

"Thank you for the food. I'm gonna dig in." Naruto devoured the ramen like a beast, not minding anyone or anything around him. In fact within half a minute the whole serving of miso ramen had already been downed…and he was only getting started.

"Here's the second and third." As if on cue, Hinata put forth two more bowls of ramen in front of Naruto making his eyes glimmer with joy.

"THANKS FOR THE FOOD!" Thus he dug in and before long the two bowls were also cleared.

But right as he finished, this time Hinata served three bowls and again it didn't take him long to finish those. Then came four bowls and thus the process continued. It was only when Naruto was on his thirtieth bowl of ramen that it looked like he was slowing down.

"This is the best ramen I've ever had…" He said while rubbing his somewhat enlarged belly, lost in a world of bliss.

Hinata also had a bowl of ramen in front of her but she was having troubles finishing it. She was just happy watching Naruto eat the ramen she prepared for him. His appreciation made the hard work well worth it.

"What's the matter Hinata? Aren't you going to eat?" Naruto finally noticed that the person who had prepared the food in the first place was not doing much eating herself.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I'm not that hungry and just seeing you eat the food I made for you makes me happy."

Naruto felt a great sense of gratitude towards her. "Thank you for the food. It really is the best I've ever had. I loved it."

"It was my pleasure." She replied with a smile.

"I'm amazed you prepared so many servings. I don't think there's any other person besides me who could eat as much ramen."

"I know how much you love ramen Naruto-kun, so I made sure to prepare enough. In any case, I imagine you probably have a few more questions for me before we work on bringing your memory back. I went back to my spaceship and the process is almost ready." Hinata said while starting to clean up and wash the dishes.

"Yes I did actually." Naruto remembered the one most important question that he had been wondering since last night. "Tell me Hinata, why did you choose to marry me? I understand that you are from a really advanced race with technology that is light years away from what we have on Earth. Your kind also has eyes that we could only describe as fiction because of how powerful they are. Then why would you pick someone like me from Earth with seemingly nothing that compares to you? I don't quite understand."

Hearing what Naruto had to say, Hinata stopped doing the dishes and came back to sit at the table, understanding that the question he had asked was an important one. She sincerely looked Naruto in the eyes before starting to explain. "To answer that question I need to first tell you how it is that we Hyuyans choose our partners since the process is vastly different from the people of Earth."

Naruto gave a quick nod in response, his curiosity now piqued.

"You see Naruto-kun, we do not necessarily "choose" our partners. Rather our partners are chosen for us at birth through a biological process. The physical traits of the person that we are meant to be with can be found in our genes. That is why we call them our "chosen one". When we finally meet that person, we start to react both physically and emotionally towards them unlike anyone else, a clear indication that they are the one for us. It may be akin to the concept of "love at first sight" that the people of Earth seem to be accustomed to, but this reaction is much more intense and driven directly by our genetics." Hinata explained. "This phenomenon of determining one's partner is unique only to our race, although I've heard that there used to exist another race once upon a time which had a similar way of choosing partners."

"Wait so what happens if a female's genes indicate that she is meant to be with a certain male but that male's genes make him fall in love with a different female. Wouldn't that cause a huge issue? Is it possible for you to find another partner beside the one encoded in your DNA?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.

"Those are some very good questions and we have done extensive research on the matter. After studying the genetic sequence of a large number of families we have found that miraculously every male and female Hyuyan who are meant to be together have each other's traits encoded in their DNA. Never has there been a case where one person falls in love with someone while the other does not reciprocate. We still do not know how or why this happens even after a plethora of studies being conducted on the subject, but that is how it has been for generations. As for your other question about whether it is possible for us to get together with another person beside our chosen one, the simple answer is no. I would never fall in love with anyone other than you Naruto-kun since I wouldn't feel any kind of physical or emotional attraction towards them. Simply put you are the special one for me. Also to note is that Hyuyan females such as myself can only conceive the children of their chosen one because my reproductive cells are only compatible with yours. In other words I can only ever bear your children and yours alone."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He was no biologist but what she said was incredibly hard to digest. "So how do you guys go about finding your partners? Do you just walk around the streets for years hoping that you spot the person you're meant to be with?"

"Of course not silly." Hinata giggled at the suggestion. "That would be ridiculous if it was indeed the case. In reality we use one of the most powerful supercomputers we've ever built, known as the "Central Matchmaking System" to do the matchmaking. Whenever a Hyuyan comes off age and is ready both physically and mentally to get married, which is generally at about the age of 20, they upload their genetic data on to the matchmaking system. The computer then searches through its massive database until a match is found between the genes of two individuals. Both parties are then informed of the match and then they follow the normal procedures to meet up and eventually get married. Of course the process is not always instantaneous. Couples don't always upload their data at the same time but in general it takes anywhere between a month to a year to find one's match."

Although Naruto got the basic gist of how things worked for the Hyuyans, an exception came to mind. "What about you Hinata?" He asked. "Since clearly you seem to have accepted me as your chosen one, what happened to you? How did you even know to find me given that I'm from a completely different planet and race than yours? Is this a common occurrence amongst your kind where they end up finding partners from alien races?"

Hearing his questions and remembering the memories of the time before she met Naruto clouded Hinata's face with a veil of sadness. "I am the first person in the history of my race whose chosen one originated from a different race than my own. And the time before I met you was a long and painful one."

Her expression made even Naruto feel a sense of regret for reminding her of times she felt was best forgotten. "I'm sorry if I was being insensitive."

"There's no need for you to apologise. You have a right to know. So I'll tell you my story." Hinata looked at Naruto and smiled wryly. "When I was the age of 20, just like most others in my planet I felt that I was ready to get married. I wanted to find my significant other and start my own family. To us Hyuyans our family is our greatest treasure. They are the ones with whom we belong. I was no different. I wanted to find my chosen one…have children…and to live a happy life just like everyone else. So I uploaded my data on to the central matchmaking system. I was both nervous and excited about the prospect of discovering who I was meant to be with. I couldn't wait to find out. However, months turned into a year but there was no response. The system could not seem to find someone who matched with me. At first I assumed I was perhaps one of the rare cases that needed some extra time. But to my dismay, another year passed by and still no response. At this point my friends and acquaintances had not only gotten married but some of them were also expecting their first child. I was devastated and everyone I met would pity me because in my planet someone being 22 years old and still not having their own family is extremely unusual. When I heard all of my acquaintances tell me about how overjoyed they were with their new lives I could only put on a fake smile. I wanted to be genuinely happy for them, but I was in disarray. I knew it was wrong and the more time that passed the more I hated myself for feeling this way. I was miserable."

As Naruto listened attentively he felt sympathetic for her. He appreciated her feelings as he got to understand them better.

"I couldn't take it anymore and so I decided to escape from my reality, even if for a little bit." Hinata continued. "Since I worked as a researcher in the field of planetary science, I took on a practical research task on observing the planet Earth and its people in detail since the Hyuyan database did not have too much information in regards to this planet or its population. Therefore I made my way over to Earth to indulge myself in this new work and to forget my sorrows. But it was during this time while observing a handful of Earthlings to understand their day to day behavioural patterns that I finally saw you. In a miraculous twist of fate you happened to be one of the people I decided to observe and instantly everything within me started to go out of control. I had never felt like this before. I had only heard from others that these were the same feelings they got when they first met their chosen one. At first I couldn't believe it. How could someone from Earth be my chosen one? It sounded impossible. But with every passing moment I could no longer deny what my own body and mind were telling me. Before long it was clear to me that you were indeed the one and I absolutely had to meet you. However, therein was the problem. In general we are not allowed to reveal our true identity to people who are not yet aware of the existence of other alien races besides their own. But I didn't care. I called my father immediately and told him about my situation. At first he couldn't believe it either but with a little bit a coaxing he came to my support. He wanted to see me happy and so he took all the burdens of working out the issues surrounding me making contact with you. With my father's support and with my own resolution I prepared to meet you with the proposition of marriage. I knew Earth society did not work that way and I feared you would instantly reject me even if I explained to you my true identity. But despite the uncertainties I knew I had to give it my best shot. After all this time I had finally found my chosen one and I was not going to give up, not at any cost. Thus, approximately four years ago we met for the very first time."

Naruto's curiosity was now at its highest point. He wanted to know to what happened next. He needed to know. "What happened then? How did I respond to your identity and to your proposal?"

"You agreed to it and the two of us got married that very first time we met." She replied as a matter of fact kind of way.

Naruto's jaw opened wide. He didn't have any words left to describe the situation.

"I understand you being surprised. Honestly I was surprised too when I heard your reply that time after explaining the situation. But to me I couldn't be happier. You see Naruto-kun, it may be hard for you to understand these feelings that I have for you since you are from Earth, but these aren't some temporary or fleeting emotions. They are deep-rooted feelings that are engrained within the very foundations of my being. It is to the point that seeing you happy grants a sense of true tranquillity and peace to my heart. Seeing you sad is as though someone is trying to rip that very heart out of my chest."

As Hinata described her feelings towards him, Naruto couldn't help but realise how similarly he had been feeling about Hinata ever since they met last night. When he first saw her yesterday his entire body and mind were sent into a state of turmoil unlike ever before. When Hinata was near him, he could feel this unrelenting attraction towards her, both in a physical and emotional sense. Again he had never felt like this before towards anyone else. Just as she had described, seeing Hinata happy brought a sense of ever lasting peace to his heart, while seeing her sad was akin to ripping that very heart out. He didn't understand at all why he would be feeling this way toward a person he just met, but perhaps these were the very reasons why he decided to marry her the very first time they met. After all, from the moment they met yesterday Naruto knew intrinsically even if he was not prepared to accept it that Hinata was someone special to him and there was no way he could ever reject her. He couldn't explain why, but he just knew.

While he was engulfed in his own thoughts, Hinata held his right hand with her own, causing two radiant flowers of light to sprout from the back of their hands and intertwine. Naruto remembered the same thing happen last night when they first met. He wondered what this was.

"This is the proof of our everlasting bond." Hinata explained while looking directly at him. "In our planet when two people get married they share these flowers as a token of their relationship. No matter how far apart the two of us may be, these flowers will bloom whenever we remember one another as long as we're alive, letting us know of each other's wellbeing. The greater our feelings towards each other the brighter they bloom. That is why these are known as the Flowers of Love."

Naruto was mesmerised by how brightly the two flowers emitted light at this moment, almost to the point of overwhelming him. But he knew that the flower did truthfully represent his feelings. He had no doubts any longer. His mind was set. He knew exactly what the person in front of him meant to him.

"Naruto-kun I'm ready to bring back your memories." Hinata said to him gently.

"I am too. But there is something I need to tell you before we do this."

Hinata gave him a surprised look. "What is it?"

Naruto took a deep breath so as to prepare himself for something big.

"I've wanted to get this feeling off my chest ever since yesterday, but I was confused. Now I think I'm finally ready to say it." He looked Hinata eye to eye with an extremely serious look. "I don't know why. I can't explain why. I don't care if this is rational or not. All I can say is that somehow I know this without a shadow of a doubt. So I want to tell it to you now. Hinata, regardless of whether I get my memories back or not…I love you. I love you with all my heart. I love you more than anyone else I've ever met. That is what you mean to me Hinata and I'm glad that we're married."

Hearing his words, Hinata couldn't help but start crying. Naruto on the other hand was taken aback by the reaction.

"What's the matter Hinata? Why are you crying?" He asked while wiping away the tears.

"You lived up to your promise Naruto-kun." She said with a smile. "Just before I locked away your memories you told me that when I returned back, you would still love me whether you had your memories back or not. I'm glad too that we got to meet and create this bond."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "So, how do you intend to bring my memories back?"

"You'll need to close…" She stopped midway, thinking of something better. "You know what, I think I know of a simpler way. Please forgive me if this is too sudden."

Without any notice whatsoever she wrapped both of her hands around Naruto's head and pulled him in for a kiss. Naruto was completely caught off guard and closed his eyes reflexively. It was during this point that he felt a rush of hundreds of memories come back to his brain. The moment lasted only a few seconds but it felt like he remembered a lifetime's worth of events that had transpired. When he opened his eyes, the two had separated.

Hinata looked at him curiously. "Are you oka-"

Before she could finish, it was Naruto this time who pulled her in for a second kiss. Hinata was the one to be taken off guard now but she savoured the moment. If this was his response, it could only mean one thing. The Naruto she knew was finally back. She was filled with joy.

"It took you long enough." Naruto stated with a grin as the two separated once again. "I'm glad to finally have you back."

"Me too Naruto-kun. I'm so happy that you're back as well." Hinata replied just as happily.

"What took you so long?" He asked, to which Hinata's expression changed to a serious one. "Actually let me guess. I'm assuming you ran into some troubles with the Galactic Federation."

"Yes, a lot has happened during the time we've been separated which caused the delay in my return. And you need to know about it all. Now that your memories are back I want to cut straight to the chase. We have no time to waste." Hinata gave Naruto a very resolute look. "I want you…no I NEED you to come with me to my planet Naruto-kun. We've completed all the formalities and preparations to take you to Hyuya. So please accompany me to my home. Someone very important is waiting to meet you there."

The concept of leaving Earth would be farfetched for any person, but to Naruto this was inconsequential right now.

"If that is what you wish Hinata then I will follow you to the ends of this universe." He replied with firm resolution.

Thus a new journey was about to begin.

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><p>I wonder if anyone can guess who this important person is that Naruto needs to meet.<p>

Let me know your thoughts as always.

Until next time, let us all celebrate. NaruHina FTW!


	7. Departure

**Departure**

It's been a while since the last update. I had this chapter written out for some time now but I only got around to proof-reading it yesterday. In any case, here it is...

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><p>"How does one go about restoring a person's memory with a kiss?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smirk and a sense of wonder. "You never fail to amaze me Hinata."<p>

"The memory restoration was done by my supercomputer, if you remember it from years ago. The kiss wasn't the…essential part." She answered back in her shy demeanour. "But it helped I think, to make you close your eyes and remain steady."

"Oh it helped alright, in more ways than one." Naruto looked down for a moment to bring Hinata's gaze down to his pajamas.

Hinata's face turned a bright red in colour. "Y-Y-You don't mean you want to…now?"

"I'm a guy you know. If you kiss me out of the blue like that, there'll obviously be consequences." Naruto gave Hinata a pretty serious look. "And who was it that sneaked into my bed last night despite me telling them not to? You know how difficult it was for me?"

"I-I-I didn't s-sneak in for that." Hinata stuttered from being caught off guard, but she quickly resolved her will. "I-If that is w-what you want then as y-your wife I'll take care of it."

Naruto burst out laughing, his previously serious expression changing completely. "It seems like you haven't changed at all Hinata. I was only teasing you. As much as I may want to have my way with the princess, I don't think now is hardly the time."

"T-That's not fair." Hinata whispered to herself while twiddling her index fingers.

Having heard her, Naruto decided to bring her close and whisper back into her ear, "Did I get you in the mood perhaps?"

His voice alone almost made Hinata lose control over her mind. She unleashed a barrage of light poundings to his chest in protest. "Stop teasing me like that."

"Haha, oh snap, it seems I've angered the princess. That can't be good. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Naruto apologised gleefully, enjoying every moment. "I really missed this cute and caring wife of mine. Even though I didn't have my memories for all this time, I felt this emptiness inside as though I was missing a part of me. That was you Hinata."

Hinata's expression changed into a melancholic one. "You have no idea what I went through while being separated from you Naruto-kun. Even thinking about it is painful and scary. I…I'm just glad that I can finally be with you again. This is the happiness that I sought after so desperately."

"What happened Hinata?" Naruto asked her while gently caressing her cheek. "Why did it take so long?"

"You remember the Galactic Federation right? It is basically a group that consists of the most advanced races in the universe. My race is one of the key members of this alliance. In fact, almost all advanced races are part of the Galactic Federation, bar a few exceptions. This union is an extremely important one as well since the members all aid each other in our necessities. But being part of an alliance also means to conform to a set of rules agreed upon by everyone. One such rule of the Galactic Federation involving space travel forbids any member of an advanced race from making contact and in particular revealing their identity to the people of a developing race that is not part of the Galactic Federation. The reason for this rule is actually to protect the people of the developing race. This is because there have been many instances in history where the people of a highly advanced race made contact with a primitive race, offering them partnership and technology far beyond what they were capable of creating themselves. Although at first the partnership seemed highly beneficial for the primitive race, soon it would turn into a one sided tyrannical regime where the stronger race would start to exploit the weaker one for their resources and manpower. To prevent such horrible incidents from happening again, the Galactic Federation came to the decision that all primitive and developing races must be allowed to advance on their own without any outside influence until they themselves are able to establish connection with the Galactic Federation, at which point they can become part of the group if they so choose." Hinata explained. "As you know, I clearly went against the aforementioned rule when I not only revealed my identity to you, but we also ended up getting married. That is why I had to lock away your memories of me back then. But still, there were a lot of complications."

"Yes I remember you told me about this before you left Earth back then." Naruto thought hard about Hinata's predicament. "So, how did you manage to get back?"

"We appealed for a special case consideration because of how we Hyuyans choose our partners. Since you turned out to be my chosen one, there was no other way around it for me. These circumstances were taken into consideration in allowing me to return back to Earth. But there were several issues. The first one as I mentioned earlier being that there was in fact another person who had been taken away from Earth in the past and that person ended up dying due to certain complications at the host planet. They did not want such an incident to occur again given that I want to take you to Hyuya. The second problem was that Earth in particular is predicted to become the next member of the Galactic federation."

"Wait WHAT!?" Naruto's face showed his utter surprise.

"Lately a lot of analysis has been done on Earth and the advancement of its people. In fact that is one of the reasons why I even came to study Earth in the first place, because of its great potential. Earth's civilization and technology has grown tremendously in an extremely short period of time, far beyond any other developing race that is out there right now. Taking this growth into consideration, it is predicted that Earth will become advanced enough to make contact with other intelligent life in the cosmos soon, at least at a universal timescale. This is why the Galactic Federation is especially sensitive to the idea of any particular race messing with Earth right now. Nonetheless, my father's persuasion worked and we were given a pass. I have been allowed to return back to Earth only so that I may be able to take you back to my planet. I can't let anyone else on Earth find out about my identity during this process. And that is why I'm here Naruto-kun, to take you with me…because there are many important things for you to learn about once you arrive at Hyuya, but only when you get there. My time here on Earth is very limited"

"Now I'm getting curious to learn even more." Naruto felt a sense of childlike excitement within him. "To be able to travel to a distant planet on a different galaxy than my own and learn about an intelligent race besides the one on Earth…I'm having a hard time believing it all. It just feels like yesterday that I started research in this area and now all this."

"Ah that reminds me, congratulations on your successful research." Hinata congratulated Naruto happily. "I found your work to be incredibly detailed and thorough."

"You mean you actually know about the research I did in the past four years?" Naruto was flabbergasted.

"Of course. I work in the same field of planetary science after all, and Earth's database is not particularly difficult for me to access. I've read your papers and I was truly amazed to see your detailed analysis on my planet."

"Wait…so the planet I've been researching all this time was Hyuya?" Naruto's eyes widened even further. It was one surprise after another.

"I suppose you didn't realise it especially since you didn't have any memories about me at the time. It was very fitting though that you were studying my home planet, Hyuya while I was studying your home planet, Earth. I thought your work was very accurate Naruto-kun given that I am from Hyuya." Hinata complimented him sincerely.

"Wow…thanks Hinata. It means a lot coming from you." Naruto felt a little shy being praised by her, but he suddenly remembered something important. "Oh snap I almost forgot. My work…it should be airing on TV."

He quickly grabbed the remote to turn on the TV and started to flick through the channels.

"What's the matter Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked curiously.

Having finally reached the destination channel, Naruto set the remote aside and pointed to the screen. "Watch and you'll find out."

The show had just started. It was an interview style documentary and quite popular at that. A young woman in her twenties was conducting the interview with her guest.

"Glad to have you all back for this month's episode. As always I am your host Moegi and today we will be talking to another esteemed member of academia, getting to know first-hand about their research that is pushing the boundaries of science." The host, Moegi greeted the audience. "Today's focus is on the field of planetary science, and the topic at hand has been making the headlines around the world lately. Our guest as such is also very special indeed. Unlike most renowned academics that we invite on the show who have been working on their respective fields for decades, the guest we have today is very young, only having completed his PhD just recently. Despite this his research has had a very profound impact on the field of planetary science. So without further ado, let me introduce you all to our guest of honour – Dr. Naruto Namikaze." The camera zoomed out and focused on Naruto sitting on a chair opposite to Moegi, a glass table between them. He was suited up and looking smart for the occasion. "It truly is an honour having you on the show Dr. Namikaze."

"The pleasure is all mine." Naruto replied courteously. Although he put on a brave front, he had the butterflies inside his stomach being on a show that was watched by a lot of people.

"Going straight to it – you've found the first Earth-like extragalactic planet in the Andromeda galaxy. Could you elaborate on it a little for us all?" Moegi asked inquisitively.

"So we've all known about the existence of planets around stars outside our solar system for a long time now. But in the past we were only able to find such planets around stars that are relatively close to the sun. However, now for the very first time we've been able to detect and confirm a planet in a different galaxy than our own. Even more interestingly, this planet is almost identical to Earth in the majority of its features. Never before have we found a planet that so closely resembles Earth in fact. Certainly the similarities are striking."

"Since you were the one to first discover it, you also got to give it a little nick name – "Hina", which seems to have become rather popular. Any particular reasons for the name?" This time she asked in more of a relaxed tone.

"Ah no, that came to me rather spontaneously. When I named it I felt there was some significance behind the name, but I couldn't exactly pin down what it was. I went with it nonetheless and I'm glad it has been well received." Naruto explained with a smile.

"Can you tell us a little bit about Hina perhaps? How is it like?"

"Of course. As I said before, it is identical to Earth in many ways. It is of the same size, the atmosphere has a similar gaseous composition; it orbits at almost the exact same distance from its star as the Earth does around the sun. Even the star it orbits is identical to the sun. The similarity between Earth and Hina was what truly caught me off guard." Naruto replied with a sense of excitement in his voice. "There was one difference however. It seems a lot of that planet's surface is covered by water with very little land present, even more so than Earth, which itself has the majority of its surface covered in water as well."

"It is certainly quite interesting that you've managed to find so many details about a planet that is so far away, in a different galaxy than our own." Moegi continued. "How has this been possible?"

"We've only been able to gather this level of detailed data through the recent launch of the NST – the Namikaze Space Telescope. It is a next generation space telescope that is leaps and bounds beyond anything that has ever been created before, being able to peer deeply at even our neighbouring galaxies. The technology within it is truly ground-breaking and almost all the major nations around the world collaborated to give the financial backing, as well as the brightest minds around the globe working together to make the project a possibility."

"It must be quite nice to have the world's most advanced and expensive scientific equipment named after you." Moegi said jokingly.

Naruto laughed lightly in response. "While it certainly would be an honour, but the telescope itself was of course not named after me. It was named after one of the most influential scientists of our time, Minato Namikaze, to commemorate his work which has revolutionised the field of Astrophysics."

"Minato Namikaze has been somewhat of an enigma because of his sudden disappearance years ago which left the scientific community in shock. I feel as though you may be a unique person to ask a little bit more about the matter due to your academic ties to him despite never having met him before."

Naruto nodded at the enquiry. "It is without a doubt that Minato Namikaze's contributions in advancing our knowledge are unmatched. In fact, my research supervisor, Professor Jiraiya, was also the supervisor of Namikaze when he did his PhD. Professor Jiraiya was just starting out in his career back then when he took his very first student, a child prodigy, which was unheard of. At the age of 15 Namikaze submitted his thesis and became a fully-fledged researcher at one of the world's best universities. Professor Jiraiya described him as nothing short of a genius unlike anyone he had ever seen before. In fact after working with Namikaze, the professor, who himself became an expert in the field did not take any other pupil under his wing ever again until just a couple of years ago when he decided to take one last student. That was me of course. So in a sense you could call Namikaze my peer, and much of my work is a continuation of where he left off. It truly is sad however that he disappeared all of a sudden without any trace whatsoever about 30 years ago. No one figured out what happened to him ever since and we can only assume the worse at this point. It was a truly sad loss. However we have tried to honour his legacy by naming the world's greatest telescope after him."

"I'm sure he would be happy right now if he knew what you've managed to find with this telescope. Interestingly, do you think there is life in the planet Hina?"

"Perhaps I'm the wrong person to ask since I am not a Biologist, but with my limited knowledge of Biology I could say at least that it is definitely a possibility given how similar it is to Earth and the presence of a substantial amount of water on the planet's surface, which is essential for life." Naruto replied with a smile. "Who knows, maybe someday we'll be able to find out."

"And who knew I would be sitting right next one of the inhabitants of "Hina" at this very moment?" Naruto asked himself light-heartedly as he moved his gaze away from the TV to Hinata.

"Did you give that name after me?" Hinata looked back at Naruto with a dazzling gleam in her eyes.

"Yes, now that I have my memories back I finally remember where that name came from. Before I felt that name was special to me somehow, but now I know for sure. I named that planet in memory of you, and funny enough it turned out to be the planet where you actually came from." Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of joy from the string of events that linked together.

"Thank you Naruto-kun. Now you even get to go to that planet and witness first-hand what it is like." Hinata added happily. "I hope you'll like it."

The two sat down and watched the rest of the show where they talked more about the details of Naruto's work and the topic in general. Eventually when it ended, Hinata started to help Naruto pack up some of his belongings for the trip ahead of them. Once they were done packing the two decided to rest for the remainder of the day before setting off.

Having refreshed themselves, by night time they were ready to finally leave and were now standing at the back entrance of the house. It was only for a day that Naruto had returned home and he felt a little sad leaving already, but there were many more encounters ahead and much more for him to learn. Above all, Hinata was with him and she wanted to take him to her planet for some very specific reasons. So he would oblige nonetheless if it made her happy.

"Actually, something has been striking me as odd." Naruto gave Hinata a questioning glance.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked in her usual kind tone.

"Where is Himawari?" Naruto questioned back with a perplexed look. "I haven't seen her ever since you arrived, and that little rascal shouldn't be leaving me alone right now given how she is."

Hinata giggled lightly at Naruto's account of Himawari. "She's here alright. I've just left her in charge of my spaceship to carry out some maintenance so that we can leave without any delays."

"I see. Now it makes sense. Well…I'm looking forward to meeting her." Naruto stated his honest feelings.

"I'm sure she can't wait to meet you either." Hinata replied back earnestly as they both started to walk out of the back entrance.

"Shall we go?" She asked while extending her right hand towards Naruto.

He grabbed on to it firmly in response. "Yes, let us set off…FOR THE STARS!"

Thus the two began their new journey.

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><p>Finally, now that I've managed to get a lot of the exposition out of the way, we can really start to get into the meat and bones of the story. There is a lot for Naruto to find out about his connections outside of Earth.<p>

I liked a lot of the technical questions I received in the past few chapters, like how the Hyuyans were able to find their chosen ones in the past without the supercomputer that they have now and how the Ucians were able to survive on a planet that had no star to warm it up. It takes time to develop technology after all. And these questions will be answered later on as they are all linked together with Naruto's legacy.

Finally I suppose I can answer the question that both Bolt and Himawari will be in this story, and Naruto meets Himawari next chapter...AGAIN!

I'll leave you guys to ponder about that a little bit. I'd love to know your thoughts, and keep the questions coming. They make me think, which is always nice.

Until next time, take care :)


	8. A Lifelong Partner

**A Lifelong Partner**

Good god! The internet has been set ablaze by NaruHina. The feels are too friggin much for me. My Kokoro can't take any more of this. Someone save me. Actually you know what, don't save me. Let me just fall into this NaruHina abyss.

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><p>Naruto and Hinata walked to the beach. Since it was night time there was no other person to be seen besides the two of them. When they finally got to the edge of the water Hinata extended her hand towards Naruto and he grabbed it in response with one hand while carrying his rather heavy bag with the other.<p>

"I've set it so that my ship will be picking us up a bit further into the ocean just so that no one else finds out about it." Hinata told Naruto, to which he nodded. "Let us move forward."

As if it was a normal occurrence, Hinata started to walk forward into the water with Naruto. But miraculously, rather than the two of them sinking they were both walking on the surface of the water. The two walked somewhat further before finally coming to a halt.

"Even though I've done this many times in the past with you, I don't think I can ever get used to the fact that you Hyuyans can naturally walk on water like this, let alone the fact that you can pass on that ability to anyone else just by making contact with them." Naruto looked down below only to confirm that they were no longer in the shallow region. It was only going to get even deeper from here on out.

"To us it is pretty normal since we live in a world that is predominantly water." Hinata replied. "Not to mention, it isn't just being able to walk on water, we're able to freely control water in any way we wish, just like this…"

She raised her hand to point towards the horizon and as if on cue a fast moving current of water carried the two further into the ocean at an incredible speed. It was an amazing feeling to have the ocean wind blow past you and before long they came to a stop at a point where the land could no longer be seen. As far as the eyes went there was water alone.

"We're ready." Hinata gave Naruto a quick glance and he now grabbed on to Hinata's forearm as she pushed both of her hands to her sides, as far as possible. Suddenly the entire sea started raging, tremendous waves forming all around them looking like it would swallow them whole. But staying true to her ability, Hinata kept the waters surrounding them in check. It was at this point that Hinata's ship became visible directly overhead.

The spaceship was truly massive, covering an entire section of the sky above. It was similar to a jet aircraft in shape but its wings extended all the way to the back of the ship and were just as thick as the central hull. This was because all of the fuel was actually stored and used in the wings. Two very large panels were open on the underside of each wing, one panel sucking in air like an incredibly powerful vacuum while the other expelled the air downwards with tremendous force, which is what caused the water below to rage uncontrollably. However this allowed the spaceship to currently hover in mid-air.

Naruto and Hinata were standing directly underneath the very front of the ship and an intense beam of light shone upon them from above, making the two float upwards towards their destination. Within a few moments they had already reached the source of the light, an open panel below the front of the ship and the two entered the spacecraft from that entrance. As soon as they got inside, the panel below them closed allowing them to safely land inside the ship.

"Quickly take us to orbit." Hinata ordered and instantly the ship became invisible from the outside once again and rose up from the Earth's surface at an incredible speed. In a matter of seconds they were freely orbiting in space just outside of Earth. At this point the panels underneath the wings of the spacecraft also closed seeing as there was no air in space and also because they didn't need to hover above the surface of the planet any longer.

They were currently in the control room of the space ship. It was a medium sized room that had screens in all of its walls and ceilings showing the space outside. One could see the Earth in its full glory through those screens. When viewed from this position, the Earth appeared in all of its natural glory that was unaltered by man, and truly did hold up to its reputation among the alien races of being the natural blue beauty.

"I always found it amazing how I don't feel any difference in gravity while coming out of Earth." Naruto said while looking around the control room after so many years. "Every person who managed to travel outside of Earth told the story of how stressful it can be on the body to leave from the influence of Earth's gravity into zero gravity in space."

"The gravity inside of this ship is artificially controlled and kept constant, so any changes outside will not affect the people inside." Hinata explained.

"I figured. In any case, she hasn't said anything yet. Where is she? I know she's observing me right now. She's about to pull something. I just know it." Naruto looked around as though he was paranoid about something. "HIMAWARI! Where are you? I know you're up to no good and it won't work. So just reveal yourself already."

But Naruto's words went to deaf ears. There was no reply. So he quickly walked out through the door of the control room and into a large hall room. This room consisted of a lounge with sofas and other seating arrangements as well as a large hologram panel in the middle where holograms of people and other things could appear. It was used for entertainment purposes like a TV, but holograms were of course more lifelike and realistic. This room also had a number of doors that led to other areas to the ship, namely the bedroom that consisted of a toilet, the dining room that was attached to the kitchen, the two fuel rooms on the wings of the ship, the bathing facilities and more.

Naruto dashed into the bedroom to look around only to find nothing. He quickly peeked into the toilet but nothing there either. He then ran into the dining area but the place was completely empty, as was the kitchen. He went from one fuel room to the other but those places were just as he last remembered them, stacked with tons upon tons of canisters of fuel used for various purposes. These storage facilities were as lifeless as ever.

"Where is she?" He asked himself as he walked back into to the hall room once again.

Naruto's next target became the bathing facilities. As he walked in through the doors he felt a weird presence. The bathing area was massive. It was almost like an indoors hot spring resort with a big pool of perfectly lukewarm water in which to relax and a large open showering area in front of it. Naruto tiptoed carefully through the showering area until he reached the edge of the pool. He looked into the water and this was the moment he fell victim to his own prey.

Suddenly a shower of icy cold water rained down upon him from the entire ceiling above, the shock from it sending Naruto tumbling straight into the pool.

"HAHA! I GOT YOU! I GOT YOU!" The cheers of a young girl could be heard reverberating around the entire bathing facility through the speakers.

Naruto climbed out of the pool of water fuming with rage. "DARN IT HIMAWARI! AGAIN! SAME TRICK AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!"

"Baka…baaaakaaaa!" She said while continuing on laughing.

"I'll get you back alright. I'll get you back right now."

"Try if you can."

Naruto stormed out of the facility and towards the control room once again until he stood in front of Hinata who looked perplexed from seeing a completely dripping Naruto.

"I'm sorry for this Hinata-chan, but please bear with me for a bit." He grabbed the zipper at the front of Hinata's bulky jacket and slid it all the way down. He then went behind her and pulled the jacket off her, revealing the white shirt she was wearing underneath. The shirt was slightly different in that it did not have any buttons at the front but rather a zipper at the back. Hinata didn't quite understand what Naruto was up to until he suddenly pulled the zipper of her shirt down as well, exposing her back completely.

"Kya…" Hinata instinctively gave a little squeak as she felt Naruto's cold wet hands touch her bare skin.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Himawari's voice now became a bit shaky. "You aren't going to…"

Before she could finish Naruto grabbed on to something hard just above the skin over Hinata's spine. Instantly a metallic external spinal cord became visible. This external spinal cord which the Hyuyans called "exounits" was directly attached through the skin to Hinata's real spinal cord all the way from the back of her neck to about the tailbone.

Every Hyuyan had an exounit attached to them at birth which would grow along with them. The exounit not only provided increased physical capabilities among other benefits, but it also housed a supercomputer that had an accompanying A.I. (artificial intelligence) with it, which would help their host with every day to day task. As such Himawari was Hinata's A.I partner. Furthermore since the exounit was directly connected to a person's spinal cord which in turn was connected to the brain, it was like having a supercomputer that could be controlled by the brain.

Naruto now clutched on to the exounit with his hand. "It's time for my revenge."

"NO NO NO!" Himawari screamed in fear. "PLEASE DON'T DO THAT! IT'LL HURT THE PRINCESS! I'M SORRY! I'M REALLY SORRY FOR WHAT I DID! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

Naruto paused for a moment before smiling. "That was too easy. I got you good this time huh Himawari? You didn't actually think I was going to hurt Hinata now did you? But I guess I'll accept your apology since even when you were in trouble, the first person you thought about was Hinata. I admire that about you…even if you're just an A.I."

The sound of Himawari crying now filled the entire room through the speakers. "Y-Y-You're so mean. W-Why would you scare me like that? I don't care what happens to me…but…but the princess is the most precious person to me…ever. You're such a horrible person." Himawari's attention now turned to Hinata. "Princess, tell him something."

"Now Naruto-kun, I know the two of you have a little rivalry going on but please don't be too harsh towards her." Hinata said to Naruto with a serene smile. "Himawari is special. She isn't just any A.I to me Naruto-kun, because she is a precious memento from my mother."

"A memento from your mother?" Naruto was a bit surprised to hear that. "I don't think you've ever told me about this."

"As you know, every Hyuyan receives their own exounit and an accompanying A.I shortly after their birth. They grow up with that A.I, becoming familiar with each other. But the A.I that most Hyuyans receive are stock ones which are all the same and are only capable of fulfilling a certain set of tasks just like any machine. But Himawari is different."

"How so?" Naruto was getting even more curious.

"You see, my mother used to be a very talented and renowned A.I programmer. The A.I she built were much more advanced and multi-faceted than any other. They were one of a kind. Because of that the ones she produced were used by large organisations and very important personnel from races across the universe. As you already know, my mother passed away shortly after giving birth to my younger sister when I was very young. So I don't remember much about her. What I do know however is that before she passed away she produced one final A.I that she called the pinnacle of her work. She made that A.I specifically for me, having only completed it on her deathbed. She worked on Himawari until the very end, wanting it to be a parting gift from mother to daughter. That is why Himawari is so special. She is capable of showing emotions that no other A.I can. She is dedicated to me unlike any other A.I is to their host. In fact Himawari is more than just an A.I; she is an invaluable lifelong partner and a manifestation of my mother's love for me."

"Princess Hinata…" Himawari couldn't even speak any more, bursting into what appeared to be another fit of tears.

Naruto was also lost for words. The story truly touched him inside. The love of a mother for her child was truly amazing. The parting gift of a mother to her child…it inadvertently made him wonder whether his own mother loved him like that or even left him something somewhere. But those thoughts quickly met a dead end as they always did in the past. His situation was different. He was abandoned at birth. It was more likely that his parents probably didn't even want him. But he would never know. So he had decided a long time ago to stop thinking about these matters because he didn't want to hate his parents. After all, his parents were the ones who brought him into this world. And no matter what may have happened, he was still always thankful to them for that.

"Naruto-kun, what's the matter?" Hinata's voice snapped him out of his daze.

"Ah it's nothing. I was just thinking how much your mother must have loved you. After hearing that story I think I'll also look at Himawari in a different light from now…but I don't think that'll end our rivalry though. I love you more than her."

"I wouldn't want our rivalry to end." Himawari was now back to her usual peppy self. "I love the princess more after all. It is how I was programmed. Because the princess' mother couldn't be with her, she made it so that I could give the princess that love in her stead."

"I love her more."

"No I love her more."

"I said I love her more."

And thus the two kept arguing, as always.

"Now you two, I think that's enough. Let us relax for a bit. You can settle this later." Hinata decided to break the argument up as always and sighed a breath of relief. "By the way, we're already on our way if you didn't notice. We should be at Hyuya in approximately 24 hours."

At her prompt Naruto looked at the screens and saw that the distant stars now appeared like white streams whizzing past them and it was as if the space ship was travelling through a tunnel.

"Princess, you didn't have to do the work. I could have set us on course." Himawari protested.

"It's no big deal Himawari. I set us off when the two of you were playing your little hide and seek game earlier in the bathing area. Actually speaking of that, Naruto-kun you're soaking wet. Let's get you dried up before you catch a cold."

The two of them walked back into the bathing room and a warm wind containing an instant drying agent flowed down upon Naruto, drying him up within moments.

When they got out Naruto noticed a door in the hall room that he had not seen before. He opened the door only to find a very large dojo-like facility used for training.

"I don't remember there being this training room before. Did you renovate the ship?"

"Yes, I had this training room added to the ship." Hinata's face now assumed a serious expression. "I've been training quite hard because I've realised that I need to be strong to protect those that I love."

"Wow, I didn't think you were the kind of person who liked to fight. I guess there's much more I need to learn about you Hinata." Naruto said excitedly. "And I think there is a lot one can learn by engaging another in combat. Therefore, let us have a battle."

Naruto's sudden proclamation came as a complete shock to Hinata. "Eh?"

"It is as I said Hinata." Naruto clarified. "I challenge you to a fight."

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><p>So yes, since all of you pretty much unanimously identified the special person who Hinata wanted Naruto to meet correctly, I guess I'll leave you with a new question to ponder this time. Knowing who Himawari is and the fact she was a gift left by Hinata's mother, who do you think Bolt is?<p>

I do love my Naru-Hina parallels. He-He!

And next time, Naruto and Hinata engage in their first battle. I think it'll be a good change of pace with some nice surprises hopefully.

Anyway, I shall see you all next time. Until then, don't get buried alive in all the NaruHina.


	9. Naruto VS Hinata

**Naruto VS Hinata**

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><p>Hinata didn't quite understand what Naruto was telling her.<p>

"You look perplexed Hinata. All I'm asking for is a sparring match. Nothing complicated." Naruto explained with a large grin across his face.

"But I can't fight Naruto-kun. I don't want you to be hurt."

"Come on Hinata. I just want a friendly practice match." Naruto continued to insist. "Ever since I was a kid I always trained by myself and enjoyed sparring with others whenever I got the chance. But my opponents always told me that I was either too fast or too strong. It was a bit of a bummer since I never got to fight anyone truly skilled as I got busy with other aspects of life. Nonetheless I've always wanted to test my own physical capabilities and I know for sure that you are incredibly strong because of your lineage. So please, let's have a match."

"But if it's Naruto-kun then I can't…"

Before she could finish Naruto grabbed her right hand with both of his own and gave her the dreaded puppy dog eyes. "Pretty please!"

"Ah, not the puppy dog eyes." Hinata recoiled in retaliation before finally making up her mind. "Okay…if you truly want to do this then I guess I have no choice but to agree."

"AWESOME!" Naruto took a few steps back as well and took a stance with clenched fists. "This is going to be fun. I get to fight an alien one on one."

"I did agree to spar with you, but I have no intentions of using my eyes or my exounit for this." Hinata now focused her attention on her A.I. partner. "That means you're not taking any part in this Himawari."

"Awww what? I wanted to help you whoop his backside real bad. Such a bummer." Himawari sighed.

"I hope that is okay with you Naruto-kun."

"Of course. While I do appreciate a challenge, I don't think I could face up any of your super powers." Naruto couldn't hold back his excitement. "You know, I don't remember the two of us ever having any kind of marital discord. I suppose we can call this our first fight as a couple. So come at me, my dear wife."

Hinata nodded with a little bit of reluctance and moved in to initiate the battle. She threw a couple of punches, but they were slow and lacked much force behind them, allowing Naruto to evade them with ease. As she tried to land another hit, Naruto gained some momentum and did a complete backflip over Hinata, using her shoulders to propel himself further along the way, landing right behind her. The move caught Hinata by surprise and just as she turned around to face Naruto, he grabbed her by the collar and flipped her over his shoulder, slamming her on to the ground.

Hinata laid flat on her back in awe. She couldn't believe Naruto was capable of such quick feats. It was only when he extended his hand towards her did she snap out of her daze. She grabbed hold of the hand and Naruto pulled her up in an instant, moving back several steps afterwards.

"Come on Hinata, I know you're stronger than this. If you're holding back because it's me then don't." Naruto had a look of disappointment on his face. "Didn't you say something about fighting for those you care for? Do you really think you can protect your precious people like this?"

His statement made her remember exactly why she trained so hard in the first place. It made her realise once again for whom she needs to fight for. Thus Hinata now had a determined look in her eyes as she stood firmly with her right palm outstretched in front of her body.

"I like that look in your eyes." Naruto said with enthusiasm in his voice. "This time I'll start."

He dashed forward at her throwing a few punches but she pushed them all to the side with her palms easily. As Naruto ducked down to perform a low sweep, Hinata used Naruto's shoulder as support to flip her entire body over him with one hand just like Naruto had done earlier.

It was now Naruto's turn to be surprised and just as he turned around to face Hinata, she landed a powerful blow to his midsection with both palms that sent his body sliding back several feet while bringing him down to his knees straight after.

"I can do it too." Hinata stated with seriousness affixed to her eyes and voice.

Naruto picked himself back up with a smile on his face. "Now that is exactly what I'm looking for. I knew you could do it. So let's keep it up."

Both sides gave a quick nod as they both dashed towards each other this time without hesitation. They started landing hit after hit at each other while blocking or dodging them at the same time. As the battle continued their blows only got stronger. Without even realising, Naruto was now moving and performing attacks at a speed that would not be possible by the average person on Earth. Similarly, even though Hinata had not intended to use her eyes, she was forced to use her special ocular abilities just to keep up with Naruto's pace without even realising it.

The battle was a tug of war between Naruto's offense and speed against Hinata's defence and evasion. After having continued the clash to a stalemate for an extended period of time both sides backed away several steps to catch their breath.

It was at this point that Hinata took a unique stance. She joined her index and middle fingers together on both hands and stood sideways with her arms outstretched, her left two fingers touching the ground in front of her while her right two fingers raised in the air behind her.

"_If I don't use the power of my exounit, this should not harm him badly. But I want to see if I can truly manage this technique against an actual opponent."_ Hinata thought within her mind.

"What're you doing Hinata?" Naruto asked out of curiosity for he had never seen a stance like this before.

"You're strong Naruto-kun, even more so than I imagined. As such I will honour your strength by showing you the Hyuyan's unique fighting style – the Gentle Fist, which uses the "all-seeing" capabilities of our eyes to deliver precision strikes to shut the opponent down completely."

Naruto quickly got back in position, his excitement now at its peak. "This is what I've been waiting for Hinata. Show me what you are truly capable of."

The veins in Hinata's temples bulged even further, her eyes focusing absolutely on Naruto, everything else fading into the background.

"GENTLE FIST ART: 64 STRIKES!" She shouted while charging at her opponent.

Naruto tried to block the incoming attacks but two jabs hit him at an opening where he wasn't expecting. Two more hits landed at a completely different part of his body. Four hits followed straight afterwards, aimed at another area. Each time the counts doubled and the jabs from her fingers did an increasing amount of damage. However it wasn't so much the sheer power behind the technique that made it impressive, it was more the unpredictable nature of the assault and how each hit was aimed at a different point of the body that made it very difficult to predict or evade.

Eventually after landing 32 hits, Naruto's guard was completely broken and he was left open with no remaining line of defence. Thus Hinata went in for a heavy onslaught of another 32 hits, finishing her last attack with an upward thrust of her palms straight to his chin, sending him soaring backwards several feet through the air.

It was at this point when she had landed the final blow that Hinata came to the realisation that she had perhaps gone completely overboard with her attacks on Naruto. She had forgotten that in the end he was just another Earthling without any special powers. Hinata feared that she may have hurt Naruto badly even though she had held back considerably.

On the other hand, as Naruto was about to fall on his back he felt a sense of remorse. The little bout with Hinata had pushed his limits more than ever before. But it wasn't enough. He wanted to take it one step further. He knew intrinsically that there was more he could achieve. As such for only a brief moment he tapped into a power that he himself was not aware existed.

With a sudden flash of yellow Naruto landed on the ground on all fours from mid-air.

Naruto's movement was so fast that Hinata missed it as she blinked her eyes. The last thing she noticed was Naruto raising his right hand in front of him and immediately following it her body was hit by a powerful burst of wind that sent her flying into the wall behind her and bringing her to her knees.

Naruto was in a state of unawareness for the few moments it took for these events to unfold, but when he came to his senses he saw Hinata on the ground and rushed over to her in worry.

"HINATA ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" He shouted and kneeled down beside her to get a better look. "Are you hurt? Is everything okay?"

Hinata shook her head lightly and looked at him with a smile. "It's okay Naruto-kun. I'm fine."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was so scared there for a second. I didn't know what just happened."

"Yeah…I'm wondering the same thing. It felt like I was hit by a powerful gust of wind. What happened?" Hinata was just as perplexed as Naruto.

"I'm looking into it right now." Himawari said to them both. "I myself am not too sure. I've never seen anything like it and everything happened so quickly. There definitely was some kind of anomalous activity with the air in this room. Maybe it was some kind of issue with the air flow or ventilation. Not sure. Database is not finding anything."

"Leaving that aside, Naruto-kun are you alright as well? I didn't mean to go overboard with my attacks. I'm really sorry if I did. I got carried away."

In response to her concern, Naruto gave Hinata an awed look.

"That technique of yours – IT WAS AWESOME!" He yelled out of joy. "I have never seen anything like it and you caught me completely off guard. That was the most amazing technique I've ever faced. Thanks for letting me see it."

Hinata blushed lightly in response. "Thanks…it was my pleasure."

"Heh, you're lucky the princess didn't go all out because she was thinking of your wellbeing." Himawari chimed in. "If she used the full potential of that technique which disables the major nerves in the victim's body with each strike, you would be lying on the floor completely immobilised right now."

"So there was more to it that I didn't get to see?" Naruto asked out of surprise to which Hinata nodded shyly. "I should have known. I mean you didn't use any of your crazy abilities. I know I wouldn't be able to stand up to them but it would be really interesting to see how you could use them in battle. Actually Hinata, I have a request."

Hinata looked at him curiously. "Anything for you Naruto-kun."

"I would love it if you showed me one of your attacks that uses your special abilities. I really am curious about it."

"Special attacks…" Hinata thought for a second before giving him a nod. "Okay, since you're so adamant about it I'll demonstrate to you something very special. What I'm about to show you is a secret technique that was once used by a now extinct race. In fact I'm the only Hyuyan who can use it…maybe even the only person in the entire universe. I only mastered it recently after quite a bit of training."

Naruto gulped down in anticipation.

"Please look at my hand." Hinata raised her right hand in front of herself and grasped the wrist firmly with the left hand. She focused her eyes on to the palm of the outstretched hand.

Naruto's eyes were also affixed on to Hinata's hand. What he saw made his eyes widened in disbelief. A spiralling blue ball of condensed energy formed atop the palm of Hinata's right hand.

"We Hyuyans can release the energy stored within our body through our nervous system. This technique condenses that energy into the form of a rapidly rotating chaotic ball." She explained as the energy glowed with a bright blue colour. "It is known as the Spiralling Sphere. Translating that name to your language, it would be called…"

"Rasengan!" Naruto and Hinata said at the time as she dashed towards a human sized metallic target on the other side of the dojo.

Hinata pushed the rasengan into the target causing a spectacular explosion of energy that shattered the metallic object into small pieces through the sheer force of the impact.

Naruto's jaw dropped from the display. He was lost for words.

"So, what did you think?" Hinata asked as she made her way back to Naruto.

"WOW! I didn't know you could use an attack so powerful. I want to use it. I want to use it so badly. Is there any way for me to learn it? I am willing to work extremely hard and follow whatever instructions you give." Naruto gazed at Hinata with a glint of hope in his eyes.

"Even though I would love to teach you, the rasengan isn't something just anyone can use. We Hyuyans can use it because we have the ability to naturally release the energy stored within our bodies. The people of the extinct race that created this technique could use it because they were able to do something similar with the help of highly advanced and specialised technology. So I'm very sorry to break your heart Naruto-kun. I really wish there was a way for you to use it, but…"

"You have no reason to apologise Hinata. I was just being overzealous and impractical. However I'm a bit curious how you managed to learn a technique used by an extinct race that no one else knows."

"That's a very good question." Hinata admitted. "The reason I managed to learn the rasengan was because of my mother."

"Your mother?" Naruto had a very confused look on his face. "I thought she passed away a long time ago."

"That is true, but my mother used to write a journal when she was alive which I have with me right now. Within it my mother wrote about this incredibly powerful race that one day became extinct overnight. Their planet was left in a state of utter destruction, not a single survivor left over. It was a horrific event that happened during the time of my birth and it left my mother in despair, because her best friend was a member of that race who died during the incident." Hinata explained with sadness within her voice. "The two of them were incredibly close ever since childhood. My mother described her friend as a woman who had bright red hair and a short temper. But at the same time she was an incredibly kind and caring person. During the time of the incident my mother was expecting me, while her friend was about to give birth to a son. The two of them were incredibly happy and hoped that their children would grow up to have strong ties just as their parents did. Unfortunately that hope would never come to pass as my mother's friend, along with her entire race would meet their sudden demise shortly."

Naruto listened attentively, his heart going out to the people of the race that were no longer.

"The rasengan in particular was a gift given to my mother by this friend of hers. A long time ago when they were both younger, my mother wanted to give a very special gift to her friend. Being a talented A.I developer, she made a very special A.I and gave it to her friend as a present. In return her friend also wanted to give her something unique. As such she gave my mother a detailed set of instructions on how to use the rasengan, a secret technique that was mastered and used by a select few within her race." Hinata continued. "Although my mother was never able to learn the rasengan, since she left her journal to me, I was able to master the rasengan myself."

"I see, so now it all makes sense." Naruto stood up and brought Hinata up along with him. "I think your mom would be very happy to see her daughter being able to use the same technique her best friend left her. After all, the rasengan is a relic of her best friend's memory, which is why she wrote it down in her journal. And you have done well to keep that memory alive in your mother's place."

Hinata was in awe from that statement. She had never thought of it that way but Naruto was absolutely right. Hinata was glad that she got to fight with Naruto and show him the rasengan. Because of it the two of them were able to get even closer.

"Let's go get refreshed. I'm starving as well." Naruto said to Hinata.

"Yes, let's have some food." Hinata replied with a smile as the two of them headed out of the training room together.

* * *

><p>It was very interesting seeing your guesses to what role Bolt will play in this story. Some of you got it right exactly while others are in the correct ballpark. Eventually you'll find out the back story behind Bolt. In fact if you were keen, this chapter actually hints towards Bolt's origin. I guess I'll leave it up to you to find it out. This chapter also hints towards some of Naruto's powers as well ;)<p>

As always it's a lot of fun for me to get to know your thoughts on the chapter. Thanks for all of your support and nice comments. Love them all and I shall see you all next time :)


	10. Happiness and Sorrow

**Happiness and Sorrow**

Hope everyone's having a wonderful holiday. I'll try and put out several chapters over the course of this break, so look forward to some good progress to the story :)

* * *

><p>The two them finished dinner and Naruto was now sitting on top of the large master bed in the bedroom. He appeared nervous, the cause of which was a small black box in his hands. He was eyeing it intently as the content within it was quite precious to him.<p>

At that very moment Hinata exited from the rest room and the automatic door slid shut behind. Her sudden entrance made Naruto almost jump out of his skin and throw the box into the air. Luckily he was able to catch it safely and quickly hid it behind his back.

"What's in your hand Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked curiously, having spotted the object he was obviously trying to hide from her.

"You already saw?" Naruto gave her the look of a child who had just been caught red-handed doing some kind of mischief. "There goes the surprise. Oh well, might as well do what needs to be done. Hinata, please come sit here with me for a bit. I have something I need to talk to you about."

Hinata didn't know why Naruto was so flustered but she listened to his request nonetheless and sat on the bed facing him.

"I should have given this to you when we first got married, but as they say better late than never." Naruto brought forward the box he was hiding and opened it for her. "Please accept this. I got this just for you."

Hinata didn't know exactly what she was looking at or what the content was meant for, but if it was a gift from Naruto then she would cherish it forever. Nonetheless, the object inside the box intrigued her. She hadn't quite seen anything like it, so she took it out and examined it closely.

"I'm curious as to what this is. Himawari, could you please run a scan?" Hinata requested.

"On it right now…initiating atomic spectroscopy…identifying elemental composition…confirmed." Himawari completed her tests in seconds. "It would appear that the ring you hold is composed of an element consisting of 79 protons, in other words gold. The ring itself is encrusted and topped by a crystal composed entirely of the element carbon in a face centred lattice structure. This is referred to as diamond."

"Wait…gold and diamond?" Hinata gave Naruto a look of astonishment. "I remember reading, are these not very rare and expensive materials on Earth? This ring must have cost you a lot. You didn't have to go out of your way to buy me such a costly souvenir. If it's from you then anything would have made me happy."

"It wasn't that big of a deal. Sure I had to save up for a bit over the past few years since I got it custom made, but it feels great to finally be able to give it to you. I may not very rich but you deserve something nice, because you're special to me Hinata. I just hope you like it."

"This is truly beautiful Naruto-kun and it makes me happy beyond words to be receiving this gift from you. But I've been wondering and I hope you won't mind me asking…" Hinata had a perplexed look on her face as she gazed ever so deeply at the ring. "What is this ring for?"

Naruto giggled lightly at her question. If this were any other girl on Earth they would have understood what the ring stood for but Hinata was different. He embraced that aspect of her and took the ring from her hand.

"This isn't a souvenir Hinata. It serves a purpose very similar to this." From the back of Naruto's right hand, the flower of light sprouted. As if on cue the same happened on Hinata's right hand. "Just as Hyuyans exchange these flowers when they get married, the people of Earth exchange rings with their significant others. This ring is a gift from me, your husband, to you, my wife. You wear it in your second to last finger which shows that you are married to me."

As he finished explaining, he gently took Hinata's right hand and inserted the ring on to her ring finger.

Although at first Hinata appreciated the ring as a precious gift from Naruto, now she looked at it in a completely different way. The light shining from the flower was being dispersed by the diamond on top the ring, making for a truly spectacular display of all the colours of the rainbow, mesmerising Hinata to no end.

"I don't know what to say…this is amazing. I…I'm just lost for words. Thank you…no…it's better to show you." Hinata decided to cut the talk and demonstrate exactly how happy she was by grasping on to Naruto's body strongly. In fact she put so much force behind the hold that she ended pushing Naruto on to the bed, she herself falling on top of him. Even then Hinata remained didn't part from him.

Naruto was surprised at first but he was happy to know her feelings and embraced her tightly with both hands as well, cherishing the moment.

"How did you remember to get this ring for me when you didn't even have any memories of me?" Hinata asked him curiously while lying on top of him.

"I asked that question myself earlier when I finally got my memories back." Naruto answered back. "In reality as I mentioned before I really wanted to give you this ring when we first met 4 years ago and got married. However everything happened so fast back then that I wasn't quite financially prepared. I felt really bad about it and promised myself that I'd eventually buy a ring for you. It seems that drive I had for buying a ring remained within me even though I didn't remember who I was buying it for. When I didn't have my memories I knew that I just HAD to buy the best ring I could get my hands on for someone truly special to me. At times that thought felt irrational to me since I didn't even know who I was buying it for, but in the end that intense feeling I had left over since you left overcame all doubts and I ended up getting this ring for the occasion when I did meet the special person it was intended for. And finally, after what feels like an eternity, it has happened."

Hearing his story started to make Hinata's eyes watery.

"Whoa now, this ring was meant to make you happy, not make you cry. I'll feel bad."

"I just can't help it. I'm just so happy." Hinata tried her best to hold back her tears. "Now I wish I had a ring too to give you."

"Actually, I've got you covered in that regard." Naruto got up from the bed and grabbed his messenger bag, fishing around within one of its pockets until he grabbed on to another ring, this one made of a peculiar dark black metal. He brought it over and handed it to Hinata. "I didn't buy this one but it was left over by the person who owned the house I live in. I only found it after you left and it looks weird, so I wouldn't have given it to you in the first place. Not to mention, I wanted to buy you a ring myself. But anyway, I think this'll work for me."

As soon as Hinata held the ring she recognised the metal it was made of. "This is Adamantium. Isn't it so, Himawari?"

"Yes without a doubt."

"Wow…I can't believe you managed to get your hands on this metal. I don't think Adamantium has even discovered by the people of Earth." Hinata said in awe.

"That's not a name I've ever come across." Naruto replied. "What's so special about it?"

"Adamantium is one of the rarest elements in the entire universe. It is known as the metal that never breaks no matter what you do. It can only be reshaped under extreme conditions. We Hyuyans go to intense pains to harvest it as it is used in some of our most important systems. The reason why it is so rare is because this metal was only formed long ago within the first stars in the universe. It is no longer produced anywhere at the current age. Therefore, Adamantium can only be found in small quantities in the furthest reaches of the universe. It is definitely not found within planets any more. So it is surprising that someone on Earth was able to discover some, let alone make a ring out of it."

"Wow…I had no idea." Naruto was stunned by the information he received. "I suppose I should've given you this ring instead after all since it was so rare."

"Oh no, not at all. I'm much happier to receive the one you chose and bought for me specifically. That means more to me than any other ring ever could, even if it was made of the rarest stuff one can find." Hinata said with a smile. "I just have to put this on your second to last finger right?"

Naruto nodded and extended his right hand towards her allowing for Hinata to also insert the ring into Naruto's ring finger.

"I've been waiting a long time for this and now it's finally complete." He said happily. "Thanks for being with me Hinata."

"It is my pleasure and thank you for this gift. I'll cherish it forever. That is a promise" She replied back just as gleefully.

"Today's been an eventful day. I suppose it's time to hit the bed. We should be arriving tomorrow, so I imagine it's going to be even more hectic. I can't wait to meet this special person you want me to meet."

For a moment Hinata's face seemed to have a dark overtone before she forced on a smile. "I can't wait either Naruto-kun. There really is a lot in store for you once we arrive, so let's get as much rest as we can."

Thus the two of them got to bed to get some much needed sleep before tomorrow's arrival. They stared at each other for a while using the dim starlight that permeated the room through the large panoramic windows until eventually both of them fell asleep and everything went silent.

Several hours later…

Naruto's sleep was abruptly broken by a sudden break in the silence and a lot of haphazard movements next to him. He opened his eyes only to find Hinata seemingly writhing around in some form of pain. He sat up quickly in both shock and fear, not knowing the cause. Upon closer inspection he discovered that Hinata was in fact having a nightmare very similar to last night's occurrence.

Just as he was about to wake her up he heard Hinata mumbling something within her sleep.

"The four of us…our family…it's being torn apart. I don't want this. I DON'T WANT THIS!" She screamed within her sleep.

Naruto was getting unnerved by her sudden outburst. He had never seen anyone have such intense nightmares. It almost looked like she was being tortured.

"Please…no more. I don't want to see her in pain. I don't want to lose her as well. OUR FAMILY! She continued on shouting in her sleep.

Naruto was about to try and wake her up once again when she suddenly said something addressed directly at him.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun…forgive me…I've failed to protect her as well. I'm …SORRY!" With that last statement Hinata jolted upright suddenly, her eyes wide open as she gasped for air.

"Hinata, are you okay? What happened?" Naruto asked out of serious concern for his wife.

Hinata only turned her head to face him, a look of fear instantly overtaking her appearance. It was as if she had seen a ghost.

"Hinata? Is everything alright? You look awful."

"Naruto-kun…I-I-I'm sorry." Hinata replied in a trance.

"Sorry about what?" He asked back.

"I-It's nothing." She quickly rectified her previous statement and put on a wry smile. "I was just having a b-bad dream. F-Forget about anything I may have said. I just need to go grab a glass of water."

"In that case I'll accompany you." Naruto offered kindly.

"Oh no, that's not necessary." Hinata quickly denied the offer. "You can go back to sleep. I'll be back in a bit. Sorry for waking you up."

"Okay…if you say so." Naruto was a bit reluctant but he decided to agree to her will.

Hinata quickly exited the room and went to the dining and kitchen area, locking the door behind her. She got herself a glass of water but rather than drinking it, she poured it over her head at the kitchen sink. The cold water seemed to calm her down slightly.

"These nightmares…they never cease." Hinata gave a large sigh of pain. "I thought being with him would finally stop them, but these never ending nightmares are a stark reminder of the reality I'm faced with every day."

"_Princess, do you not think it is about time you told him everything?"_ Himawari spoke up within Hinata's mind seeing her suffering. _"I believe he deserves to know."_

"What exactly do I tell him? That I lost one of our children into the vastness of space and the other is slipping into darkness by the second? He is going to find out about the truth soon enough once we reach our destination, so I really can't bring myself to take away his smile right now."

"_Please stop beating yourself up over what happened. You did everything you could have possibly done. None of it is your fault."_ Himawari did her best to console Hinata.

"It is the outcome that matters in the end Himawari, not the effort. I am a failure of a mother for not being able to protect my children, and soon I'll be a failure of a wife once Naruto-kun finds out the truth. I am nothing but a complete failure."

"_Let him be the judge of whether you are a failure or not."_ Himawari added in Hinata's defence. _"You have to tell him about it all first."_

In response Hinata could only just shake her head in despair as tears started to roll down her eyes.

"What do I tell him? How do I tell him about all that has happened when at this moment I myself don't even know who is in worse condition, my son or my daughter?"

Himawari had no reply for that last question. Thus silence overtook the room once again with only the very light sound of Hinata's tears hitting the countertop remaining audible.

* * *

><p>Yes, Naruto and Hinata's children will make their debut shortly. Of course they'll both play a big part in the story as well. But there are special circumstances surrounding them...I'll leave you to wonder about it for a bit.<p>

Now to answer a few of your questions/comments:

**YamiChaos27:** The reason why Naruto called out the name rasengan alongside Hinata was because Hinata herself named the technique as "spiraling sphere" beforehand, which translates into rasengan. Basically when Naruto and Hinata are speaking, Hinata is talking in her native language. She's using a translator to communicate with Naruto. She herself called the technique "spiraling sphere" in her own language but just afterwards she translates the name into Naruto's native language in the heat of the moment, forgetting that her translator had already translated "spiraling sphere" into rasengan beforehand. So Naruto was able to say the name with her. I was planning to explain more about their way of communicating in a later chapter.

**Chewie Cookies:** It is about to happen my friend. We're almost there. Love your new word BTW! I hope you don't mind if I start using it myself. I might even make it Naruto's (or one of his children's) new catchphrase lol.

Okay, so I'll be off for today, but expect to see new updates soon. Until next time, have fun. It's the holidays after all :)


	11. Maiden From The Futuristic Space Race

**Maiden From The Futuristic Space Race**

Happy new year to all! Yay! A new year's worth of awesomeness awaits us. Lets gooooooo!

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><p>After the events of last night, this morning was a lot calmer and less eventful. The day passed by with Naruto and Hinata talking about their various experiences over the few years they were apart. As evening came upon them, the time for their arrival drew near. Thus Naruto got out of the shower a little while ago, dressed up and was now looking at himself very closely through the mirror in the bedroom. He made sure to keep his blonde spiky hair in the most pristine condition for whoever Hinata wanted him to meet. His cerulean blue eyes gave a glint as he finally felt he was ready for the new world that awaited him.<p>

Naruto went to the control room of the spaceship where Hinata was already fully dressed in her usual bulky jacket and pants. She was always very modest in both her attitude and get up, giving her a traditional feminine vide even though she was from an advanced space race, something that Naruto appreciated greatly.

"Are we close?" Naruto initiated the conversation with a quick question.

"Ah Naruto-kun, you're out of the shower already." Hinata spun around in her rotating seat to face Naruto, pointing him to the seat next to her at the control panel. "Yes we've just entered the Milky Way-Andromeda junction, which means we're about ten minutes away from our destination."

"Milky Way-Andromeda junction?" Naruto had an inquisitive expression as he sat down beside Hinata.

"I told you a little bit about it before but this is the first time for you to be experiencing it. If you remember, the way we travel such vast distances in space in a matter of hours to days that would normally take millions of years is my using "warp gates". Basically, space is not as it appears. There are many hidden dimensions within it that cannot be seen by the eye, and these hidden areas, known as "pathways" can be used as shortcuts that link together extremely vast distances in space. Under normal circumstances it is not possible to access these hidden dimensions, however by manipulating a special type of matter, which the people of Earth call "dark matter", we're able to open up entrances that we call "warp gates" to gain access and travel through these pathways. Our spaceships therefore contain two types of fuel. One is basic hydrogen fuel to create energy through nuclear fusion similarly as the sun for movement. The other is the dark matter necessary to open up warp gates as required for long distance travel." Hinata explained. "Going back to your question though, the Milky Way-Andromeda junction is the shortest pathway between our galaxies. You can almost think of it like space highway that everyone takes when they want to travel between the two galaxies. In fact, take a look at the screen right now."

Naruto did as she asked, looking at several large panoramic screens in front of them that showed the scenery outside. What he saw however took him by complete surprise.

"Wow…" That was the only word that escaped Naruto's lips as hundreds of other spaceships were travelling all around them, new ones entering the pathway every so often. It was very much like a highway as Hinata described earlier. "Are they all traveling to your planet?"

"A lot of them are, but many will probably exit out into another pathway to get to a different destination."

Naruto was still mesmerised by the sight of so many spaceships in motion. He knew this before, but it was truly starting to dawn on him that the universe really was far more vast and unknown than he ever imagined.

"Princess, we're about to exit the junction." Himawari informed, to which Hinata nodded. "Opening exit warp gate."

As soon as she said so the spaceship exited out of the tunnel like area they were in and once again entered normal space. The light of an intensely bright sun-like star nearby suddenly lit up a part of the screen. More importantly however, it was the planet in the foreground and the centre of the screen that caught Naruto's attention. As they get closer, its features became clearly visible.

It was a planet similar in size to Earth and a moon orbiting it. White clouds covered a lot of the view of the blue surface. In fact much of the planet seemed to be covered in water from what could be seen from up here. However what was unbelievable to Naruto was not so much the planet's natural features, but rather something artificial around it. A dark black donut shaped ring surrounded the entire planet, similar to Saturn's ring. The only difference was that this structure was completely man-made and served some very specific purposes.

Seeing Naruto's look of awe Hinata couldn't help but interject. "I imagine you are wondering about the dark ring around the planet?"

He could only nod in response, not able to take his eyes away from the screen.

"That ring is what we like to call the "Halo". It is where all the spaceships arrive and depart from, similar to how an airport functions on Earth. Also, the halo contains a planetary defence system used to protect our planet in the case of an emergency. In fact you should soon start to see the halo's purpose with you own eyes."

As their spaceship got closer to the ring-like structure, thousands upon thousands of other spaceships started to become visible in orbit around it. It would appear that all these spaceships were in queue to make a landing.

"Contacting Halo A.I. Arrivals terminal determined to be 141098." Himawari's voice took a more mechanical and computer-like tone. "Now entering Halo orbit."

Just like the rest of the spaceships, their one now entered into one of the many rows of spaceships hovering a distance above the Halo.

As Naruto watched closely he could see that one after another the spaceships started to descend down towards the halo below and disappeared within it, which made him curious as to what was inside. Soon enough it was their turn.

"Approaching terminal number 141098. Landing sequence initiated. Disengaging fusion drive." As Himawari said so, the spaceships engines stopped and they broke away from the rest of the queue, slowly descending down towards the Halo below until they were flying just a little distance above its surface. There were many other spaceships also flying at this height in the distance, also getting ready to make their landing.

"Terminal doors opening." Himawari confirmed and just on time a massive rectangular panel opened up on the surface in front of them, allowing the ship to quickly manoeuvre inside the halo as the panel closed above them as soon as they entered.

"Initiating magnetic confinement." Once inside, an intense magnetic field brought the spaceship to a quick halt on a landing panel. "Arrival at halo terminal 141098 confirmed. Exit route has been linked. Welcome to Hyuya!"

It was only when Himawari said so did Naruto finally snap out of his little daze. They had arrived. They had finally arrived. Naruto was the first, okay maybe not first but still one of the only Earthlings who had made it to another planet. Right now his heart was beating fast in anticipation of what was to come.

"Naruto-kun, welcome to my planet." Hinata said happily. "I'm glad that you decided to come with me. I hope your time here will be nothing short of amazing."

"I should be the one thanking you Hinata. If not for you I would have never even have known about your race, let alone come here. So thank you for everything."

"Himawari, can you please get clearance for Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked kindly to her partner.

"It's already done. I've uploaded his data and linked it to yours. He should be clear for entry." Himawari's voice returned to her usual peppy tone.

"You're as efficient as always." Hinata complimented. "In that case, let's not waste any time. We should get going."

They got hold of their belongings and exited the spaceship, walking down a long corridor until they reached a small room. Here they dropped off Naruto's luggage which would be sent directly to their home later. He only kept the messenger bag he always carried around with him. This room also acted as an immigration service, scanning all newcomers to make sure they were properly registered in the planet's central database. In that regard Naruto's case was already clear.

It was only when they exited that final room did they arrive at the massive communal area of the halo, which seemed to go on forever. All the people who had also arrived just now funnelled through to this hub and from here they could head out to any destination on the planet below. This place was bustling with all forms of life, not only just Hyuyan but also from various other races. It was an amazing sight to behold for Naruto to see so many people of so many different alien races, each of them having their own distinct features. It made him feel less alienated somehow.

"This is so troublesome." Naruto heard a man about his own age complain. His pineapple shaped hairstyle was unique to say the least. "Why do we have to do this job? I just want to go back home and sleep."

"Come now, don't be like that. Let's get this work done quickly. I'd love to do some sightseeing. Maybe I'll come across some unique flowers that only grow on this planet." A girl with a slim figure next to him replied enthusiastically.

"I can't wait to try out the food here. It's sooo good." A big chubby guy walking with the rest added his own cause for excitement as he took a massive bite out of the food he was holding.

As they started walking Naruto saw a guy ran past at an incredible speed with a big white dog. He didn't know dogs could even grow that big. Another hooded man with black shades seemed to be trying to keep up with those two. Naruto wondered why someone would want to wear shades indoors. Perhaps it was an alien thing.

"Master, I've heard that the Hyuyans are experts at hand to hand combat. I am looking forward to testing my skills against a worthy opponent." Another young man also the age of Naruto shouted in joy. His excitement was through the roof.

"That's the spirit. Only by fighting ever stronger adversaries will you be able to hone your skills to the utmost level. LET THE POWER OF YOUTH BECOME YOUR ULTIMATE STRENGTH!" An older man, who almost seemed like a clone of the younger one shouted with even greater excitement.

Naruto wondered why the two of them were wearing what appeared to be full body green spandex. Perhaps it was an alien thing.

As they walked through the crowds, they heard someone's voice call out, "Princess Hinata!"

Turning around, a middle aged Hyuyan man ran to them followed by several dozen security personnel dressed in properly vested attire.

"Ko, I'm surprised to see you here." Hinata was genuinely taken aback by the man. Little did she know that he and his squad had followed her the entire journey by her father's order.

"I'm glad to see you've arrived safely." Ko now moved his gaze over to the man next to Hinata. "This man, you must be Naruto, the person princess spoke so fondly of. I'm glad to make your acquaintance."

"No the pleasure is all mine." Naruto answered courteously. "Ummm, how do you know each other?"

"I work for the princess' father. I'm one of the people in charge of the planet's defence system. I've known the princess since she was a little kid."

"He isn't just my father's subordinate Naruto-kun. He has taken care of me and my siblings when we were children. Ko is like family to us." Hinata added.

"Princess, you flatter me too much."

Something about their conversation caught Naruto's attention. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you refer to Hinata as princess? I thought that was just something Himawari did because she was programmed that way."

"I call her princess because she is the princess." Ko answered casually.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, not sure what to make out of the situation.

Hinata had a little worried look on her face.

"Did the princess not tell you? Her father is the leader of our entire race. That is why she automatically gets the honorary title of "princess" from everyone."

Naruto took a few seconds to absorb the information. "WAIT WHAT?! YOUR FATHER IS THE LEADER OF THE ENTIRE HYUYAN RACE?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS HINATA?!"

Naruto's sudden scream of disbelief caught the attention of everyone around them, something that caused Hinata to coil up in embarrassment.

"I d-d-didn't want y-you to think of m-me any differently b-because of m-my heritage. I wanted you to a-accept me for w-who I am, not m-my status." Hinata barely managed to stutter out. "I'm sorry!"

Naruto finally calmed down when he realised he had put Hinata in a tough spot. "I'm sorry for overreacting. I just thought you could have told me about your father's position at some point. In any case, it's fine. I did marry you for who you are, not because of your status."

"I'm glad that was solved quickly. It's good to see the understanding between you two. However, talking about the man himself, your father has been expecting to meet the two of you as soon as you arrived. Please do not keep him waiting."

"Yes, we're heading there now. So I'll see you around Ko." Hinata waved goodbye to her acquaintance and started to walk in their previous direction, leading Naruto along.

It was at this point Naruto realised who the "special" person was that Hinata wanted him to meet. It was her father! And now that he knew his status, he was shaking in his boots.

This was the dreaded meeting the father of your wife scenario where the father gets angry that some man stole his precious daughter from him and goes on a wild manhunt with a sword at hand. Yes, Naruto had been reading too much manga in his spare time. But it still didn't make things easier knowing that Hinata's father was the leader of one of the strongest races in the universe. Who knew what he would do upon meeting Naruto.

While he thought about the possibilities they soon arrived at an area where people were waiting in line in front of the hundreds of elevators that led to the planet below. The two of them had to wait a few minutes before they could finally get into one and the door closed shut in front of them.

"Take us to father's office." Hinata requested Himawari and the elevator moved for a few seconds before coming to a halt.

"How did we get here so quick?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.

"We used warp gates just like we did for space travel. This is the way in which we travel around our entire planet within an instant."

The doors to the elevator opened up to a large foyer outside. They didn't have to walk long however as Hinata led him to another elevator just a few steps away. This one was an internal elevator that led to the higher floors of the building.

When they got on again, Hinata pressed some of the buttons inside indicating that they were headed for the thousandth floor of this building.

"Is this building really one thousand floors high?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Indeed, that is the final floor and it is where my father's office is."

Before long they arrived at the highest floor. Naruto would have said something but he was feeling incredibly nervous now as he followed Hinata's trail until they finally reached two large doors. When they both stood in front of it, the two doors slid open allowing them entry into a room with a massive conference table.

On the other side of the table a man was looking outside through the glass walls of this room with his back turned to them.

"I'm back father." Hinata said to her father. "And I've brought him with me."

"I've been expecting you Hinata." Her father replied back in a stoic tone while still gazing outside. "I've also been anticipating your arrival…Namikaze Naruto."

Her father's voice sent shivers down Naruto's spine, not in a good way either. Even if he hadn't been told so beforehand, Naruto could have guessed that this person was no ordinary man just from his presence. He gulped hard to keep his composure.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hiashi, the leader of the Hyuyan race and Hinata's father. That would make me your father-in-law." Hiashi finally turned around and gazed unflinchingly at Naruto, his vision almost freezing Naruto in place.

"I am N-Namikaze Naruto. I-I-It's nice to m-meet you too sir." Naruto never stuttered but this was one occasion where he couldn't help himself. He knew this was an important first meeting with Hinata's father. He couldn't screw this one up.

Hiashi was about to continue talking but something brought him to a stop. "I wish to converse with you further, however it would appear that you are about to become acquainted with an even more important person than myself."

Naruto heard the doors slide open behind them and he turned around to see a woman slightly younger than Hinata walk in.

"I've brought her along as you wanted sister." Hanabi said as she stepped aside and led the guest of honour inside.

The sight of this newcomer, a three year old child, brought Naruto's world to an absolute halt. There was something…no…so many things about her that left him in awe. As he looked at her Naruto felt as though he had known her all along. It didn't take him long to pinpoint why that was the case either because this little girl just from her looks reminded him of the woman standing next to her. All of her attributes, from her facial features to her eyes and even her long flowing hair was directly reminiscent of Hinata. It was only the colour of her hair that was very different, being a bright blonde. This left Naruto somewhat confused since Hinata had told him before that all Hyuyans had the same midnight blue hair. In fact her blonde hair almost reminded Naruto of…himself. That was weird.

Perhaps ever weirder however was the fact that the little girl unlike anyone he had ever seen before was floating in mid-air casually as if it were the norm. It didn't even appear she was using any kind of tech do so either, not that any Hyuyan he came across so far demonstrated such an ability. She was hovering around in the air naturally.

But none of this shocked him as much as what the girl said in the following moments.

"MOMMY!" She screamed as she dashed through the air and grasped on to Hinata in a massive hug.

Hinata gently hugged her back and kissed her on the forehead. "You haven't given your aunt any troubles while I was gone now have you?"

"I've been a good girl like I promised." She replied with a child-like innocence. "Did you bring me my gift?"

Hinata was waiting for this moment. "I have indeed. I have brought you the best gift you could ask for. I have brought you your father."

Hinata walked a few steps with her child until the two of them were right next to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, this is the special person I wanted you to meet - our daughter, Yuhi. And Yuhi, this man is your father, the one I've been telling you about for so long."

"DADDY!" Yuhi shouted in joy as she jumped on to her father and wrapped her hands around his neck.

Many emotions were flowing through Naruto's mind right now, so much so that he couldn't even pinpoint his own emotional state. However, his body reacted on its own, out of instinct as he embraced his child with his own hands.

Thus for the very first time Naruto discovered that he was a father, and it was a feeling unlike anything he had ever felt before.

* * *

><p>The throwbacks are real.<p>

I hope you liked the chapter. I know from the comments that quite a few of you were waiting for this meeting to happen. Next time we will focus on the "special circumstances" surrounding their child. It may surprise you.

So until next time let me know your thoughts and take care. Later Feraligatr!


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